Demons and Angels
by Squislaiden
Summary: Itachi massacres his clan when he was ten, leaving a five year old Sasuke alone. Sasuke and Naruto live together and train to become the best and kill Itachi. Sasuke is a jinchuuriki too? It's not a demon? SasuxOC NaruxKyuu. Semi-Super Naruto/Sasuke.
1. A New Life, Ame's Approval

**I know my past record for writing fanfics is very bad, seeing as I stopped all three, but I've got a good feeling about this. Providing I can keep writing good plans for it, I'll keep writing and, if I have to, make stuff up right then and there.**

**If I ever stop this PLEASE feel that you have to send nasty emails to me. They might get me back started, but I'm feeling good about this fic.**

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**This fic occurs with Itachi killing his clan when Sasuke was five. Sasuke finds Naruto and they both agree to help the other.**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto or anything I take from other animes or mangas.**

**Started****: April 30, 2008**

**Worked On****: May 2-3, 2008**

**Finished****: May 4, 2008**

**Total Days Worked****: 4 Days**

**Start to Finish****: 5 Days**

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**Chapter 1****: A New Life - Ame's Approval  
**

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A lone dark-haired five year old boy sat in the corner of the orphanage. He wore a blue shirt with a red and white fan on the back and white shorts. His clothes were too large for him and would last him for quite a few more years. His knees were pulled to his chest and his face was one of shock and fear. Three days ago, his older brother had annihilated their entire clan in the span of a single night. Normally this wouldn't be as bad for the village, but the clan was the Uchiha clan, the clan that was Konoha's police force and the fire experts. They also possessed a coveted bloodline called the Sharingan that could read and copy nin, gen, and taijutsu. The entire clan of Sharingan users was destroyed by one single member, Itachi Uchiha, who was known as the Uchiha genius, a prodigy that would bring the Uchiha clan fame and power. His reasons remained unknown to the world. All he left behind was his destroyed clan district and his frightened younger brother.

Sasuke Uchiha, the young kid in the orphanage, had arrived two days prior, the day after the attack. He had moved to his corner and remained there the entire time, only moving to eat or sleep. The boy was deeply scarred. He would let out an inaudible whimper while he remained oblivious to the world around him. That is, until he heard the window near him shift open. He moved his dead eyes to look at a blond boy covered in orange that was trying to climb out of the window. Sasuke presumed it was to escape. He was about to ignore the boy when an urge to follow hit him. He tried to ignore it but it came back full force. The Uchiha stood and as soon as the blond fell over to the outside, he jumped up and pulled himself over too. Giving himself a little time to close the window, Sasuke fell to the ground next to the blond. The blond just happened to be splayed out on the ground, completely missing his feet when landing.

The boy lifted his head and Sasuke saw the most unique thing he'd ever seen on someone. On the blond's cheeks were three whisker marks each. Sasuke took no notice of the cool night air as he gazed into two sparkling, ocean blue eyes.

"Ah!" The blond promptly fell back on his ass. "Where the hell'd you come from?" Sasuke merely raised an eyebrow, his fear and sorrow temporarily forgotten.

"I followed you." he stated bluntly. His gaze turned to curiosity, though. "Who are you and what are you doing? Running from the orphanage?"

The blond snorted. "More like a damned hellhole." he muttered. When he caught the black-haired boy's questioning glance he continued. "Feh, damned old bats would always kick me around, punish me for nothing, and short me on food. I even had to live in the basement! Fucking shit man! I'm only five! Dunno what the hell those bitches have against me anyways." The blond stood up. "And besides, I have to become strong! If I'm strong, they'll have to recognize me and stop hurting me! I'm Naruto Uzumaki, the strongest shinobi alive! Or at least I will be..."

Sasuke stared at the boy in mild shock. _This boy is trying to gain strength to be recognized. I can gain strength to avenge my clan and kill my aniki...no, that man..._ "Naruto, I'm coming with you."

"Eh?" Naruto looked at Sasuke like he'd grown an extra head. "Why would you want to do that?"

Sasuke eyes darkened and Naruto almost...almost regretted asking. "I need to get stronger to avenge my clan." A dark aura seemed to float around the Uchiha and chilled Naruto to the core. He had never seen someone that was this cold. Not even his tormentors were this bad.

"S-Sasuke, revenge leads to nothingness and emptiness. You should worry about other things first."

Sasuke glared at the boy. "I'm not giving up my goal." His voice was laced with anger and hate. "I will kill him! And what would you know about revenge? You're no older than me."

Naruto let his bangs fall in front of his face. "I'm not asking you to give up killing him, just worry about it later when you've the ability...I've never known parents or any family in my short life. I would normally be like other orphans but everyone seems to hate me for some reason. I've been beaten more times than I can count by random villagers. Hell, even ninjas join in every now and then. If I were to get revenge on them, I would be no better than they are. I'd be destroying my humanity and I want to keep that! Someday, I'll become strong, the strongest, and protect them all! Then they'll see the truth about me!"

Sasuke looked at the boy strangely. "I can't just forgive the man I must kill and protect him. He killed all of my clan and he will die. No matter what, I will kill him."

"Sasuke!" the blond almost yelled. "You're just going down the same path he did!" This shocked Sasuke to the core but also angered him, but he knew it was true. "You don't have to do it alone either. You can get friends and become strong together and defeat him together. Hell, I'll help you myself! But not if you're going to be a broody avenger..."

Sasuke had his bangs covering his eyes and his body was shaking. After a few minutes he raised his head with a smirk on it. "Then it's settled, I'll help you become Hokage and you'll help me avenge my clan."

"Yeah! There ya go!...wait...what's a Hokage?" the blond asked.

Sasuke sweatdropped. "The Hokage is the strong shinobi in the village that protects and runs everything and everyone." Naruto smirked.

"We'll do it." they said in unison as they clasped hands to shake. They were interrupted by a crash and a loud yell.

"Shit," Naruto said, "the old bitch has found out I left! Run!" Naruto, dragging Sasuke with him, took off into the streets. Nonetheless, both held a happy smile on their faces.

-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-

Sasuke stopped in a clearing in the middle of the forest next to the blond. He was panting heavily while the blond barely seemed to break a sweat. _What is this guy?_

"This will do!" Naruto said with a foxy grin. He started to look around, for what, Sasuke didn't know.

"Do for what?" The Uchiha asked his friend. Naruto turned his grin to Sasuke.

"Our home! Yeah!" Naruto jumped in the air. "We'll build a shelter here and live off the land. We'll train and become the best, ever!"

"Hey, blondie," Sasuke said, "how do you expect us to train if we know nothing about being shinobi. They use this energy thing called chakra and we have no clue how it works." Naruto went into a thinking face at this.

"I think I can help with that." a voice said from the forest. Naruto and Sasuke were instantly on alert. The voice chuckled. "No need for that, Naruto-kun, Sasuke-kun." The figure stepped out to reveal an old man with a large white robe on. His face was starting to wrinkle and his head was already mostly bald.

Naruto's face brightened instantly. "Oji-san!" Naruto ran up and hugged the old man's legs. The man just smiled and placed a hand on the boy's back. Naruto backed up and noticed Sasuke's still tense posture. "Sasuke, don't worry! He'll help us, he was the only one to ever be nice to me!" The man chuckled.

"Sasuke, relax. I'm the Hokage and I can't allow harm to befall my own people. I won't hurt you." Naruto's eyes widened.

_The old man is the Hokage!? No wonder he's so cool!_ Naruto thought. "Oji-san! Someday, I'm going to be Hokage and I'm going to beat you and all the others!" The Hokage, Sarutobi, smiled.

"Now, now, Naruto-kun. You have a ways before you get there. Now, since you need help and you're orphans that are out of the orphanage, I can provide you each with a check each month to help you live on. As for shinobi training, I'll dropped off a few scrolls every month for you guys to study. They'll explain chakra and the like. Then, when you're eight, I'll enroll you in the academy to become real ninja."

"Yatta!" Naruto yelled. "Hear that, Sasuke? We're going to become real ninjas! Then we'll avenge your clan and become the best!" Sasuke smiled and nodded. Thus began the friendship of the century.

"Ne, oji-san, we'll need weights too! And, and..." Naruto began.

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Three Years Later.

Sasuke and Naruto, now eight, were walking through a village towards a large office. They were currently on the week and a half spring vacation from the academy. They had left the village, with the Hokage's permission, and traveled to find something to do. They'd come across Amegakure and were hoping to find a job with the Jonin Boss.

The two boys opened the door that would take them to the person they wanted to see. Sitting in the chair behind a desk was an orange haired man with a few piercings on his face. There were three through his nose, two on his chin, and about seven on each ear. His eyes were a dark orange color with circles spreading around it until they hit the edge of the eye socket.

"What can I help you with?" He asked in a monotone. The two boys looked at him with a determination in their eyes.

"We're here to see if you have any jobs we can take." Naruto said. "We've been training for a while and we're sure we can handle anything below a high A-rank." The orange-haired man raised an eyebrow.

"You've got guts to do that, kid." He said with a slight smirk. "I'll humor you. There's been an amount of recent complaints about the Kazuka Gang. This is a low A-rank mission because the leader is a low-level Jonin. Do you accept?"

Naruto and Sasuke both grinned. Sasuke nodded and Naruto pumped his fist in the air. "Hell yeah!"

"Very well. Your mission is to eradicate the clan and save those in their cells. Normally I'd leave gang business alone, but they've been taking away other's rights to life and liberty. Now, may I know the names of you two? My name is Pein." said the Jonin Boss.

The blond grinned. "I'm Naruto Uzumaki, future Hokage!" Sasuke had a look of boredom on his face. "Sasuke Uchiha."

"Okay, then. Here is the scroll with the details and location. Any spoils you'd like to keep, you can have." Pein said as he handed a scroll to Sasuke. _These boys have potential. Too bad they won't live past sixteen._ He thought.

"Yatta! Let's go Sasuke!"

"Wait." Pein said. The two boys looked at him. "First, just curious, what is your goal in becoming so strong so young?"

Naruto grinned. "I'm going to become the Hokage and make sure nobody ever has to live a life like me or Sasuke while protecting everyone!" Pein nodded and turned to Sasuke.

Sasuke's face was schooled into indifference. "I will gain power and kill a certain man. Then I will revive my clan and help Naruto defend the village."

"So, you're both against war instead wanting to protect in peace?" Pein asked. They both nodded. He grinned. "Good. If you ever need anything, don't hesitate to ask. You're welcome in Ame as long as you're not looking for war." Pein went back to work as the two walked out of the room, a bit weirded out but happy nonetheless. Someone else to help them.

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"Konan." Pein said, now in a black cloak with red clouds on it. "I have just received a message from my clone. Apparently, the Kyuubi Jinchuuriki and the last Uchiha entered asking for a mission." He said not looking towards her.

"Are we going to leave them be?" A girl in cloak just like Pein's with blue hair and a paper ornament in it asked.

"Yes, they have potential. We'll see if they can fight for their lives and win. Akatsuki will be the biggest problem they'll ever face. This mission is just another stepping stone for them. My clone said it was A-ranked, but in truth, it's S-ranked." Pein said while watching the two boys from his sky high perch. "The Kazuka gang is not just in a simple dojo. Let's see if the boys can figure it out and go beyond the mission scope just to help. If they do, they will be forever welcomed into Ame."

"Let's enjoy the show, then." Konan said as she jumped off the tall structure after Pein.

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Naruto and Sasuke arrive at what looks like a large dojo wit two guards at the entrance. They were both Chuunin, easy kills. Sasuke and Naruto disappeared into nothing.

The two guards were standing to attention when a few kunai flew towards them. With a few quick slashes from their own kunai, they fell to the ground, harmless. Walking towards them from the direction of the kunai were two boys. "Hey, Gokuja, these two brats think they can take us." He laughed. When he got no response, he looked over to see his partner with his top half nailed to the wall and his lower half slouched on the ground. "You bastards." The guy said before turning to scan for them. Before he knew it, his head was rolling on the ground.

"Naruto, you need to work on your wind manipulation. Those cuts are a bit rough." Sasuke said as they walked through the door. Naruto put away a kunai that just had a swirl of wind around it.

"Yeah, yeah, I'm only eight. I have time." They both continued walking.

It didn't take long for the two to find the basement and kill the guards there. They walked down the steps to see a large cement room with people chained to the walls. They walk down and Naruto creates a few water clones to break the chains and free the people. There were nine in total. Most were old people, a couple were able-bodied teens but one was a young girl, probably only about four years old. She started crying.

Naruto walked over to her and knelled down next to her. Her auburn hair fell to mid-back over her faded green shirt. He pulled her into a hug and whispered to her. "Hush now, everything going to be okay. Hush." The girl's crying came to a halt. She looked up at Naruto with bright, emerald-green eyes that were slightly puffy. "See, everything is alright."

The girl nodded. "Who are you mister?" she asked, innocently. Naruto pulled the girl away a bit and smiled. "I'm Naruto Uzumaki, strongest shinobi alive...eventually." The girl smiled.

"My name's Kumei." Naruto smiled softly at her.

"We have to go for a bit. Promise me you'll behave." Naruto said to the girl.

The girl nodded. "How long will it take, Naruto-nii-san?" Naruto was a bit shocked at that but pushed it to the side.

Naruto smiled warmly at her. "We'll just be a few minutes. Fifteen at most." Naruto stood and transformed one of his clones into a stuffed bunny. "Here, Bunny will keep you company while I'm gone, k? It can't stand up to much so be gentle with it."

_He'd be a good father when he finds a girl._ Sasuke thought.

"Hai, nii-san!" The girl grabbed the bunny and hugged it but not too hard. Naruto looked to Sasuke and they headed out.

"Everyone, please remain here. There are still ninja out there and we need to take care of them." Naruto said. "We'll leave some clones to guard it. We'll be back in ten to twenty minutes." They continued up the stairs before Naruto created a water clone and Sasuke created an earth clone. They had learned them from Sarutobi when he'd asked a Kakashi guy to provide them for the boys.

"They're only eight, yet they're taking down the Kazuka clan." A man whispered. "They're stronger than anyone I've met."

"They're good kids." an old women said. "They'll be big some day.

"And that blond boy," an adult female began, "he has a way with kids. He has a pure soul."

"But you saw his eyes, didn't you?" An adult male asked. "They held a hidden look of pain and betrayal beyond even some of the orphans around here."

The old woman nodded. "The poor boy must've suffered terribly. He wears a mask of ignorance while he hides his pain from everyone. They'll be big some day alright."

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Naruto and Sasuke stood at a door that led to the final room. On the door was a plate that said: **Kazuka Jinkou.** They'd cleaned out the building, killing all of the Kazuka members. Most were Chuunin level with a few Genin. Now came the Jonin.

Naruto let out a sigh. "He knows we're here. He's just waiting for us to open the door. We'll need to work together. This guys is not a simple low-level Jonin like Pein said. He's at least high-level Jonin if not ex-ANBU."

Sasuke nodded. "Yes, but he'll underestimate us like everyone else. Our teamwork is genius and our power are plenty enough." Sasuke kicked the door open and prepared a kunai.

The man inside wore a blue and gold battle kimono. His arm was leveled towards them and in it was a sword that was almost black. The hilt had a demon face on it that seemed to come to life. "You two." Jinkou, as the door implied, spoke with confidence and determination that betrayed no emotions. "You've broken into the Kazuka base, killed my men, and freed our prisoners." His gaze turned to a glare. "You'll die for that. Boss will be ecstatic to have the heads of two boys to add to his collection. "

_This guy isn't the big boss!?_ Naruto screamed inside of his head. _Shit! This guy is above the mission specs as it is._ "You can try." Naruto said before settling into a taijutsu stance, followed by Sasuke. They held their dominant arm, both right in this case, forward bent at the elbow a bit. Their left arms were pulled close to their bodies. Their rights legs were stuck out in front, even with their right arm. They had their left legs spread back a bit and facing to the left. "Let's do it." Naruto said, his happy-go-lucky self gone.

Both boys disappeared and reappeared behind the Jonin. They were blocked by the flat of the sword as the Jonin turned around.. Naruto brought his left leg up and around to hit the guy in the head while Sasuke went from a leg sweep. Jinkou backflipped, dodging the leg sweep and kicking Naruto's leg, deflecting it upwards. Naruto planted his hands on the ground and twisted his body to flip onto his feet. Sasuke threw a few kunai and disappeared.

Jinkou deflected the kunai and swung his sword at the incoming blond. Naruto ducked down and to the side as the sword cut down diagonally. The sword was followed by a kick that Naruto blocked with his arms crossed. He latched onto the foot and twisted hard, knocking the Jonin off balance. A heat built up behind Jinkou. They looked to see a massive fireball closing in on them. Jinkou tried to jump away but Naruto held firm on his leg. The Grand Fireball hit and incinerated Naruto and they guy's leg. The Naruto in the fireball turned to water and evaporated while the fire left a black mark on the polished wood floors.

Jinkou leaned on his uninjured leg and dodged a few kunai thrown by the blond. What he didn't expect to happen was him to get cut. _What the...wind chakra._ "So you brats can manipulate the elements so young. You'd be a good addition to the gang. Too bad I have to kill you." He jumped to avoid a swarm of shuriken form the Uchiha. Jinkou did a few seals in the air and landed heavily. His hands slapped the floor and a black substance rose from the cracks in the floor. It coated the walls, floor, and ceiling. Jinkou grinned. "Time to die." He said before doing a few hand signs ending with tora.

"Shit!" Sasuke said. He was doing a katon jutsu, meaning the black substance was oil. "Naruto!" Said blond jumped by him and went through hand signs. Water flowed out of the wall, from a bathroom, and surrounded the two boys. They sent a mental command to their clones before Jinkou breathed out a line of fire into the oil. With speed born from training, Jinkou jumped and smashed through the only window in the room. The room itself burst into flames and began to burn the whole building. Naruto was sweating as he held the water shield up. They were slowly walking towards the window, through the fire.

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"We're going!" The Naruto clone shouted as he descended the steps. "Hurry!" Everyone began to run in a line up the stairs where they were led by the Sasuke clone towards the doors.

"What's the rush?" Someone asked right before an explosion rocked the compound.

"That's why." Naruto said as everyone crowded into the streets. He looked around only to spot eight people. "Where's the girl!?" He asked, worriedly.

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Said girl had tripped on the stairs and dropped the bunny animal she had. She went back to grab it before the ceiling above her weakened and fell. She started to scream, only to be pushed away. The bunny transformed back into Naruto and had tackled her out of the way. "I'll always protect you." The clone said before sending out a mental command to Naruto. The Naruto clone pulled the girl away from the now blocked stairs.

"Nii-san, are we going to die?" She asked, scared. The Naruto just pulled her close and semi-turned back into water to help stop the heat from reaching her.

"We're going to be fine." He said, feeling a lot less confident than he sounded. The girl nodded her head and snuggled into her adopted brother's body.

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A Few Minutes Ago.

Naruto and Sasuke were at the window when an explosion struck. It blew Sasuke, who was in front, out of the window and Naruto into the wall. He was about to jump our when he received the message from his clone. "Shit!" He said before turning around. "Sasuke! Find Jinkou and trail him. I have to go help the prisoners. Then we'll worry about killing the Kazuka boss." Naruto jumped into the flames without waiting for Sasuke's reply.

The fire tried to burn him but a thin coating of water kept him safe for the time being. He smashed through closed doors and fallen beams. He struggled to get clean air into his lungs but all he got was smoke. Soon he found his way back to where he needed to be.

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Kumei shrieked in fright as the clone took a stick in the back and dispersed back into water. Now she was alone and terrified. Her shriek had went unheard with the raging fire ahead and cracking roof. The ceiling of the basement was the floor from above, so it was just wood. She shrank into a corner. "Naruto-nii-san, help me." She said, more to herself than Naruto. Tears started falling down her face as the heat was raising. A large snap form above was the only warning before the ceiling fell in on her. She snapped her eyes and waited for her impending death. But nothing touched her. She opened her eyes to see Naruto hovering over her, bearing all the fallen wood on his back, protecting her. Her eyes widened when she saw several pieces of wood piercing his body. On was dangerous close to his heart.

"I said I'd protect you." He said with a forced grin. His body was aching. "Always." His arms were straining under the pressure. Kumei could see them shaking violently.

"Nii-san!" She yelled. "Don't die!" She cried into his shirt. "Please, don't die." Naruto chuckled and coughed up some blood on the ground. His vision was getting blurry and his body felt weak. He curled his body around Kumei as best he could before he started to black out. A yell of "Nii-san!" kept him awake. "Nii-san, don't go." Kumei was crying. Naruto put on a smile.

"Death is a part of life, Kumei. I'm just glad I could go out protecting someone I care about." He said, blood running from his mouth and his back burning. The building was done collapsing but it still burnt.

"No, you can't go" Kumei screamed. "You're my only family!"

This struck a chord within Naruto. He never had any real family but he had Sasuke, who he saw as a brother. Kumei, a little girl, seemed to adopt him as her brother. He didn't know what it was like to lose family but he had had dreams where Sasuke died and it hurt worse than any physical wound. It was the worse pain in the world. The pain of loss. That did it. Naruto started to push up with all of his strength. Kumei eyes were wide with wonder because he had at least five hundred pounds of burning wood piled on his back. His arms reached full length and he struggled to go further but he couldn't. He pushed and attempted to stand, his body was at its limit. _No! It can't end this way! Kumei, I will protect you! I will.._ "Protect you!" He yelled the last part of his thoughts. His eyes changed to red and his pupils turned into slits. His whiskers darkened and his fangs grew. Red chakra started to swirl around his body.

Kumei watched in amazement as her nii-san changed. He pushed up and wrapped his arms around her. His legs strained but refused to give away. Naruto let out a loud roar and launched himself up, crashing through the wood, sending more spikes through him. Blood fell from the wound and soaked Kumei's clothes.

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Sasuke was following Jinkou through the market district. He watched as the target entered an alleyway. Sasuke dropped into the alley and sprinted after the man. He followed the man around a corner to see the point of a very large sword. He barely stopped in time. The large sword was held forward by a guy with a slashed Kiri headband that was titled slightly. The lower half of his face was covered by bandages and below his neck they stopped, leaving his torso bare. He had on a pair of Kiri Jonin pants and blueish camouflage arm and leg warmers. The sword was massive, at least six feet long and two feet wide. The sword itself was stuck through the chest of Sasuke's target, Jinkou.

"Who are you?" Sasuke asked, getting into a defensive position. The guy pushed Jinkou off his sword and was about to reply when Pein and a blue-haired woman appeared.

"He is Zabuza Momochi. He was hired to take out the big boss of the Kazuka gang." Pein said without emotion. "We should go back to the compound and make sure everyone got out." Sasuke nodded before picking up the sheath and sword of Jinkou. "Take it." Pein said before leading them off towards the ex-Kazuka base. A young girl was following behind Zabuza. She couldn't be but a year older than Sasuke himself. He just followed wordlessly.

When they reached the building, it was in a heap of wood that still burned. Sasuke scanned the crowd and counted eight people and two clones. He rushed to his clone. "Where's Naruto and Kumei!?" He said frantically. The clone pointed ominously at the center of the burning pile. Sasuke's eyes widened and the clone dismissed itself back into earth. Naruto's clone doing the same thing except with water.

Everyone was mumbling worriedly for the two trapped in the fire. They all stopped when they felt a rumble. The ground was shaking and a red glow could be seen from under the burning wood.

"What the hell?" Zabuza asked. His question was answered as the wood exploded and a figure flew out of it. Everyone looked to see Naruto and Kumei surrounded in a red aura of chakra. Naruto landed on his feet in front of the building. Everyone stared in awe at his red eyes and fangs. Naruto set Kumei down before the chakra disappeared and he fell into blissful unconsciousness.

Kumei was next to Naruto. "Nii-san!" She yelled. "Don't die!" She was hugging his unmoving body.

"My god." Zabuza said as he saw the multiple pieces of wood that jutted from the boy's body. There were at least thirty of them and some looked to be close to, if not at, vital areas. Konan turned away and Sasuke stared in horror.

Pein walked up with no emotion on his face. He placed his hand on Kumei's shoulder. She looked up at him and he smiled softly at her. "Naruto is going to be fine." he said. He began to pull out the sticks, careful to avoid further injury. When they were all out, the red chakra flared again and the wounds started closing up. Naruto remained unconscious, though. "Let's get him to a bed." Pein said, picking Naruto up, bridal style, with Kumei sitting on the boy's stomach.

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Black, all there was was black. Wait, there's something soft under him. He remembered protecting Kumei. _Hope she survived._ He thought. He could then hear sounds of people working. _They must be moving the wood to get us out._ He opened his eyes to find out that he was alive. _B-But how!?_ He asked himself. Then he remembered, the red chakra, pain in his back, and landing in front of the building. He looked around his body to find holes all over his clothes but not his body. He was laying on a couch in a room with a bundle on top of him. He looked down to see Kumei sleeping peacefully. _Good, she's okay._ He viewed the rest of the room to find that he was in Pein's office with Pein sitting behind the desk.

"Good, you're awake." He said, standing up. "You've been asleep for two days already and the girl hasn't left your side for a minute. I've given the money for an S-rank mission to Sasuke. I suggest you get cleaned up and meet with him. He's at the Kanagi Restaurant down the street. Ask the secretary and she'll point you to a place to shower."

Naruto nodded and walked out of the door to the secretary with a half-asleep Kumei following behind him. "Excuse me miss, Pein said you would be able to point me to a place to shower." The woman looked up and smiled. She, along with everyone else in the village, knew of what the boy did.

"Hai, down the hall and to the left there is a door labeled "Cleansing Room." It's where we allow visitors to bathe and to prep criminals or bodies for inspection. There are separate showers and baths for privacy."

"Thank you, ma'am." Naruto said, remembering his manners, and followed her directions. He opened the door to see a large white room. On the right wall there were doors with bars and locks; the prisoner prep rooms. On the front wall there were doors for postmortem cleaning, and the left wall were the visitor doors. They weren't labeled male and female, so Naruto just led Kumei into the same one as himself. Inside there were ten doors that led to the showers themselves.

Naruto turned to Kumei. "Ne, imoto, can you bathe yourself?" She nodded.

"Hai, aniki." she said, still only half-awake. She walked over to choose a door.

"Okay, make sure to try and get the blood off. Just put on the same clothes, we'll buy more afterwards." The blond said before entering his own door next to hers.

After they finished their showers, they left the building. Since shinobi were exposed to blood on a daily basis, special oils have been made to remove the blood from skin, leaving Naruto and Kumei blood-free, body-wise.

"Come on, Kumei." Naruto said. He'd gotten quite attached to her and dreaded when they'd have to depart. Before they knew it, they approached the Kanagi Restaurant. It was of a simple design with only a flap to cover the entrance but sliding doors to block bad weather. When they entered they were greeted by multiple square, oak tables. Not very many were filled seeing as it was a work day. Along the walls were similar tables, but modified with built-in seats. There was even a bar along the far wall, though Naruto doubted they sold any alcohol other than sake.

It was in a corner that the two found Sasuke and two people Naruto had never seen before. Naruto took the empty seat next to Sasuke and Kumei plopped herself down next to Naruto.

"Naruto." Sasuke said without emotion. Naruto looked at him inquisitively. "Don't do that again. For a minute, I'd thought I lost you. I won't be able to complete my goal alone. We both know it."

Naruto grinned. "Ah, you know nothing will kill me before I become Hokage! Besides, I had to save Kumei. I couldn't let me new imoto die, now could I?" Naruto smiled down at Kumei who smiled back. "So, Sasuke, who're these two?" Naruto said, looking at the man with the massive sword and the girl in a pink kimono with brown eyes and brown hair tied into a bun with senbon needles.

Sasuke motioned towards the man with the sword. "This is Zabuza Momochi of the Seven Swordsmen of the Mist. And this," he motioned to the girl. "is Haku, a bloodline carrying runaway from Kiri. They are currently running from Kiri Hunter-nin and decided to drop by Ame, looking for jobs. It so happens, Zabuza had the job to eradicate the Boss of the Kazuka gang. He was the one that killed Jinkou when he ran."

"Ah, I see." Naruto said. "So, when are we returning to Konoha? We have two days until the vacation is over and it'll take about thirty hours to get back."

"Glad you're back up and yourself." Sasuke said, smirking. "We can leave whenever, I don't really care but, I've set up an alliance between us and Zabuza here. This'll allow us to call on their help and vice versa. It will also stop conflicting missions and allow them entrance to Konoha after we inform oji-san." Sasuke had taken to calling Sarutobi, oji-san, after a while of Naruto doing it. After all, he was like a grandfather to the two boys, being the only one to understand and help them.

"Sweet." Naruto said. "In any case, I'd like to leave soon. Need to get back and finish building the West Wing." Everyone other than the two boys were confused.

"West wing of what, aniki?" Kumei asked. Naruto chuckled.

"Of our compound." Naruto said with a smile. "Me and Sasuke are both from once-prestigious clans. Though, nobody but me, Sasuke and the Hokage know of mine. We're going to live in the same compound and start up on big clan with two houses for two halves of equal status. We both plan to wed multiple wives, as the council will no doubt force Sasuke to if he doesn't do it himself, to build the clan. Our compound currently consists of a large main building for the house heads, an East Wing, a Northern Sector and a Southern Gate. The East and West wings will be for the separate families, the South gate will be for primary entry and exit, while the North Sector is for training, gardens, and the like." Naruto grinned.

"Now is as good a time as any." Sasuke said before standing up. "Zabuza, Haku, see you later."

"Sasuke wait." Naruto said. "We gotta visit Pein once more before we leave." Sasuke nodded. Naruto picked Kumei up and per her on his back before jumping onto the roofs with Sasuke.

A few minutes later, Naruto and Sasuke were standing in front of Pein's desk with a sad Kumei behind them.

"Glad you could come." Pein said. He stood up and walked around his desk and offered a closed hand to each boy. They raised their own and Pein dropped what looked like the metal version of a fuuinjutsu seal. "These are a seal that I created myself. It can be pressed onto the skin and the seal will append itself on it to never be removed except by me. This marks you as Ame's allies and ever if we go to war, we will not fight you. Though, the restrictions don't go for you, I'd suggest you don't fight us either. But I don't see that happening. To append it, just place it on your shoulder and apply chakra." Pein smiled slightly and reached into a pocket. He pulled out another one and crouched down by Kumei. "He carefully raised her sleeve and put the metal on her skin. "This is going to burn a bit, okay? Just for a second." She nodded. Pein pushed chakra into it and everyone could feel a hiss. Kumei threw her head back a bit but didn't scream s the pain was already gone.

Kumei opened her eyes before screaming. The pain was gone and there was a very dull throb on her shoulder. She looked over to see the seal. It consisted of two circles, one inside the other, that were connected with various jagged lines. Inside the circles were the four straight lines that adorned the Ame headbands. Kumei smiled. Sasuke and Naruto repeated the gesture, though a bit wary, and were able to avoid showing anything other than a twitch from the pain.

Naruto rubbed the seal to feel a very slight raise wherever the ink was. Then something hit him. "Ne, Pein, why'd you give Kumei one? Doesn't she live here?"

Pein smirked. "Actually, I was planning to send her back with you. Here, she has no family or anything. But she's come to love you as a brother. Also, she'd do better to get an education in Konoha than here since we are still working on the academy systems."

"Naruto, you get to take care of her." Sasuke said with his own smirk.

Naruto placed his hands behind his head while thinking. "Well, that solves the problem of leaving her. I'll have to talk to the old man but I'm sure we can care for her. We've got the money from our multiple excursions outside of Konoha." He face grew into a grin before he crouched down. "Come on, imoto." Kumei grinned brightly and jumped onto Naruto's back, where he held her in place. The blond turned back to Pein. "Anything else?"

"One more." Pein said, sitting back behind his desk. "Tell the Hokage that we may offer an alliance in four to five years if Konoha is still centered on peace."

"Hai." Naruto said. He and Sasuke turned and jumped out of the window and ran to a store to buy new clothes for Naruto and Kumei. Naruto came out in black pants with two orange stripes down each side and a jacket that had the lower half as orange and the top half as black(Pretty much Shippuden Naruto but with different pants and more black on his top). Kumei had picked out a brown t-shirt and a green skirt.

"Much better!" Naruto said with a grin. He picked Kumei up again and they headed back to Konoha.

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**Hrm, my fight scenes sucked D**

**And I also feel like I rushed in a few places...**

**But whatever.**

**Kumei might or might not have a big part later on. She'll only be eight during the canon story length until Shippuden where she'll be 13.**

**I'm going to have her learned sooner and faster than others since Naruto and Sasuke did the same.**

**I suppose you can't really tell me what you think about my idea for the fic since it doesn't come until the second chapter, but whatever :P The summary might help a bit, I suppose...**

**R&R w/e**


	2. Village Secrets

**The time comes for Naruto and Sasuke to join the ranks of Genin. But what if Naruto can't pass the test because of the stupid bushin technique?**

**...**

**What...you'll have to read to find out :D**

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**This fic occurs with Itachi killing his clan when Sasuke was five. Sasuke finds Naruto and they both agree to help the other.**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto or anything I take from other animes or mangas.**

**Started****: May 4, 2008**

**Worked On****: May 5, 2008**

**Finished****: May 7, 2008**

**Total Days Worked****: 3 Days**

**Start to Finish****: 4 Days**

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**Chapter 2****: Village Secrets**

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Four Years Later

A green and brown blur shot at an immobile, twelve year old Naruto. His feet were encased in rock that was infused with chakra. The previous blur shot a fist out to hit Naruto in the head. He moved it to the side just enough to miss the blow. A second fist rushed towards the blond's stomach but was caught before it hit. Naruto twisted and threw the girl off balance. He sent a fist crashing into the girl's head only for her to shatter into a bunch of rocks.

"Good job, Kumei." Naruto said with a grin. "You're not where me and Sasuke were at your age but you're high Genin and should be almost mid to high Chuunin by the time you graduate." Naruto laughed.

"You and Sasuke-nii-san are special cases. You two can absorb stuff like a damn sponge. Not to mention your inhuman stamina and chakra coils!" she said, coming up from underground. Her brown ponytail fell to mid-back over her brown shirt. She had on a larger green skirt that when she was little with tight, brown shorts under it.

"Naruto." A voice came from the grounds entrance where Sasuke stood. "It's time to go. Graduation is today." He smirked.

Naruto pouted a bit. "But the exam will most likely consists of bushin. I still don't have the control to do that." Naruto shattered the stone restraints on his legs with a twitch and walked over to Sasuke. Naruto turned to the middle of the training field where a man-made pond was sitting. With a hand sign he formed two hundred water clones. "Kumei, fight these clones and work on your taijutsu with them."

"Hai, aniki."

Sasuke and Naruto walked into the building and grabbed their weapon pouches before disappearing with a shunshin.

Kumei turned to look at the clones with an evil grin. "Since you're just clones and he doesn't know what happens to you. I can go all out!" Kumei prepared herself for chakra exhaustion later on.

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Back at the academy, Sasuke and Naruto had just taken a seat by each other. Sasuke whispered low so others couldn't hear them. "Have you stuck to the plan?" Naruto gave a slight tilt of his head.

"Yeah." He said. "I'm deadlast and you're the rookie of the year. When we graduate, we'll be on the same team, probably with Sakura since she's the top female." They both grinned.

Sasuke's grin turned to a frown. "We'll have to get Sakura up to par, though. We can't let her lack of ability or her obsession with me to hinder us."

Naruto nodded. "First, we break her obsession. Second, we train her, got it." As he finished speaking, said girl and a platinum blond crashed through the door, arguing over who got there first. "Speak of the devil..." Sasuke and Naruto blocked out the girl's ramblings but kept an eye if they tried anything.

Both girls wanted to sit next to Sasuke, but they also knew that Naruto and Sasuke were close friends and if they tried to separate the two, Sasuke would get pissed. So, they settled for two empty seats as close to the boy as they could, Sakura's being right next to Naruto. The blond boy ignored her.

It wasn't long before Iruka came in and told everyone to shut up. At first they didn't listen but his Demon Head jutsu, that was unique to him, seemed to do the job.

"Today is the day you all take your Genin test." He began. "We will see if you have what it takes to be a Genin. The tests will conclude today with the final of performing a functioning bushin no jutsu." A thump resounded around the room as everyone turned to see Naruto's head on his desk with anime tears streaming from his eyes.

Sasuke shook his head in annoyance. Naruto may be his brother in all but blood, but he was still an idiot at times.

Iruka chose to ignore his near-failing student's antics. "When we call your name, please come into the room where we'll perform the test." Iruka left the room and everyone started to talk. It wasn't long before he popped his head in. "Aburame Shino." A boy that was a sort of spiked afro and a large coat stood and followed Iruka. He wore black sunglasses that stopped anyone form ever seeing his eyes so that nearly all of his face was hidden.

Naruto waited, wallowing in worry, as everyone was called. Finally Sasuke came back in with a headband and an "Uzumaki Naruto." was called. The blond stood up and passed by Sasuke. Sasuke just nodded, saying 'Just try your best.' Naruto nodded back. He would go to Sarutobi after it and see if he could pass anyways since he could use other bushin jutsu.

With a sigh, Naruto entered the room of his demise. Iruka and Mizuki sat behind a desk against the far wall.

"Please make three functional bushin." Iruka said, putting some papers on the desk.

Naruto exhaled and focused. He had asked Mizuki once if other bushin jutsu were allowed, sadly, they weren't. Naruto placed his hands in the proper seal and focused his chakra and all of his concentration on performing the jutsu. Too much chakra was put into the jutsu. Naruto tried to stop it but alas, he failed. With a puff, there were two half-dead, cartoon-drawn clones of Naruto. He sighed and shook his head. He knew this would happen. _It always happens._ He put his hands behind his head and donned an emotionless mask. He left without even waiting for Iruka to say he failed. He decided to exit the academy and head to the roof to avoid the parent's snide remarks. _I don't even know why we have to take this stupid test. The old man knows me and Sasuke can handle a Chuunin by ourselves and a Jonin together. I'm sure that's plenty enough for Genin._ Naruto laid back and looked at the clouds, a habit he had picked up from Shikamaru when they would hang out.

Naruto laid on the roof until he felt a chakra signature approaching. It was soon to be revealed as Mizuki when his white hair appeared in Naruto's vision. The man sat down next to Naruto.

"You know Naruto, it's not your fault that you fail. It's regulations and such. Believe it or not, I couldn't do the bushin either, my first test."

"Really, Mizuki-sensei?" Naruto asked, sounding down but curious. The white-haired ninja nodded.

"Yeah, It wasn't pleasant. But, seeing as I could perform decent in other areas, my teacher came to me with a second chance of passing." Mizuki was watching the clouds, but keeping an eye on Naruto's form. When Naruto hear this, a light entered his eyes, the light of hope. Mizuki's smile widened. "I'm here to give you the same chance, Naruto." Mizuki's voice held no malice and his smile seemed sincere but his eyes seemed to sparkle with forced joy, though Naruto paid no attention to that.

"Ne, ne, what is it sensei?" Naruto asked, sitting on his knees.

"It is a stealth mission of sorts. You have to use the skills you've learned in the academy and sneak into the scrolls room in the Hokage's office. On shelf three, there is a large scroll at the bottom. You have to take the scroll and get out, undetected, and go half a mile north into the forest to a cabin." Mizuki said, smiling. "I'd suggest finding where the scroll room and the cabin are before attempting to do it. Find when the Hokage isn't there and time it right. I'll be at the cabin a couple hours after the sun sets."

Naruto nods and grins. "Hai, sensei!" He said, jumping up. "I'll go prepare!" Naruto jumped off the room and sped away, missing Mizuki's evil grin and glare.

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Sasuke was wondering around, looking for Naruto. The blond hadn't come back after his test and he was worried. He'd been searching for an hour. He wasn't at the compound, he was at Ichiraku, he wasn't on the monument or any training grounds. Sasuke was at a loss. The sun had just finished setting and he was walking near the Hokage's tower to ask the Hokage if he'd seen Naruto.

But then it happened...Naruto walked right in front of him. "Oi, Naruto!" Sasuke said, running up to him." Said blond just grinned. "Where have you been all day?"

Naruto pretended to think. "First I hung out on the roof to avoid all the parents who would no doubt say means things. Then, Mizuki came up a told me of a second chance thing at the academy if you had good enough scores in everything else. It's a stealth mission and I'm supposed to do it alone."

Sasuke arched an eyebrow. "I never remember anything like that. It could be a trap."

Naruto just waved his concerns off. "I know, I know. That's why I recorded Mizuki saying it, so I have proof if I get in trouble." He said, holding up a tape recorder. (A/N: Dunno if they have Tape Recorders, but they do now!)

Sasuke sighed. "Whatever, just don't get in over your head." He turned to walk off when Naruto stopped him.

"Sasuke, wait. The target is a scroll with jutsu in it. We could learned some while I wait for Mizuki. I'll be going to a cabin in the woods that is roughly a mile west of the compound and half a mile into the forest. Go try and find it, I'll be there in twenty to thirty minutes."

Sasuke smirked. "New jutsu, eh? I'm in." With a leap, the Uchiha was heading north across the rooftops.

Naruto smirked and entered the tower to begin his mission.

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Seventeen Minutes Later

Sasuke jumped to attention when Naruto dropped into the clearing with a large scroll in his grasp. "I got it." He said, slightly winded. He must've run full sprint. "Now," He began and opened the scroll. "Let's begin! First, Kage Bushin no Jutsu. Makes solid replications that have a separate consciousness. Sounds fun!"

"Let's try and get at least the Kage Bushin and one jutsu each down so we can work on it later." Sasuke suggested.

And so the two set to work on it. They both pretty much mastered the Kage Bushin in half an hour, leaving them roughly an hour and a half before Mizuki's predicted arrival.

"Let's see..." Naruto said, scanning the scroll. He found the perfect two jutsu to use. "Daitaifuu no Jutsu(Great Typhoon Jutsu), an S-rank Fuuton jutsu, for me and Faiyaboufuu no Jutsu(Firestorm Jutsu), and S-rank Katon jutsu, for you. Both are forbidden and use a lot of chakra."

"Chakra," Sasuke said, "that we have in spades." It was true, both had more chakra than ever the highest level Jonin for as long as they could remember. "Looks like we'll have to practice on a very small scale. We don't want to destroy the forest. We'll work on the full version when we have time to leave again."

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Sarutobi stood in front of multiple Jonin and Chuunin of Konoha. "Shinobi!" He said. "Naruto Uzumaki has stolen the Scroll of Sealing. Find him, and return with him, _alive_." He stressed the 'alive.' "Dismissed!" Every ninja there shot off in random directions while Sarutobi just shunshinned back into his office. He pulled out a glass ball and allowed his hands to hover over it.

"Let's see what you're up to, Naruto." An image formed in the ball, revealing Naruto and Sasuke falling down, exhausted. "Boys must have been working. If anyone, those two have the chakra wells to perform those techniques. Though, I'll have to warn them off from using them after they come back."

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Iruka Umino, ex-prankster, current academy teacher, was racing through the forest. After the Hokage's order, he had sped off in pursuit as if the hounds of hell were after him. He knew if anyone else got to Naruto first, they'd attack first and capture later. First he'd gone to Naruto and Sasuke's compound, that he was proud to be one of the few trusted with it's location. Kumei, his student in two months, said neither Naruto nor Sasuke had been home. Now, Iruka was shooting west, towards the Hokage monument. It was Naruto's favorite place to hang out.

Iruka passed by an area with less trees than normal when he felt chakra usage and voices. He immediately changed his direction.

The pineapple-haired Chuunin dropped down to see Naruto and Sasuke sitting on the ground, sweat covering them.

"Hey Iruka-sensei!" Naruto said, with a grin on his face. "I managed to take the scroll, and learn a jutsu from it. Can I pass now?" Sasuke sighed, knowing by the look on Iruka's face that Mizuki had lied.

"What would ever give you that idea?" Iruka asked.

Naruto never stopped grinning. "The missing-nin Mizuki-teme." He was almost sure by the time they'd finished, because he'd had time to think, that Mizuki tricked him. But hey! He could get a few free jutsu and then pin it back on Mizuki later with Sasuke as a witness. "He told me I could graduate if I stole this scroll and avoided capture for two hours. With my abilities, I avoided ever being seen. But I kinda figured Mizuki was lying but I never had a reason to mistrust him before."

"But why did you say he was a missing-nin?" Iruka asked.

"Because he's right over there." Sasuke said, pointing to the tress that were six yards to Iruka's left about.

Mizuki was standing there, in a tree, with a scowl on his face. _Damned Uchiha brat. Didn't expect him to be here. If I kill him, Orochimaru-sama will have my head._ Mizuki lifted a large shuriken off of his back and heaved it towards Naruto. The massive spinning blade sliced through the air and hit Naruto before Iruka could stop it. He eyes widened until Naruto's body disappeared in a poof of smoke.

The real Naruto and Sasuke dropped from the tress overhead and looked at the ex-Chuunin without emotion. Their gazes disturbed him but he decided to throw his best attack out. "Hey Naruto!" He said.

"What do you want, traitor?" Naruto asked in a cold voice, one that he had learned in his out-of-town escapades. Mizuki grinned.

"Did you ever wonder why everyone in Konoha hated you?" There was an evil gleam in Mizuki's eyes. This was the number one question that Naruto wanted answered in his life, followed by who his parents are.

"Don't!" Iruka yelled. "Mizuki, it's forbidden!" The white-haired man's grin just widened.

"What?" Naruto asked. "What is it!?" He practically demanded.

"Hahaha!" Mizuki laughed. "You are the container of the nine-tailed fox! Everyone in this pile of shit believes that you are the Kyuubi or that he took over your body! That's why they hate you! Naïve fools. Any idiot could see that you're not the fox."

"But why then, Mizuki?" Iruka asked. Naruto was shocked into silence.

"Because!" Mizuki said, his gleam brighter than ever. "If I get Naruto to steal the scroll of sealing, I can kill him and become a hero in the village, not to mention taking the scroll myself and becoming all powerful!" Mizuki caught the glare that the Uchiha sent his way. His grin remained. "Let's not forget about the 'precious' Uchiha. You also have a being sealed inside of you. Shortly after the villagers learned of the Kyuubi's fate, the power hungry Uchiha clan sealed an angel into you in the hopes that you'd bring their clan to power and kill the demon! How wrong they were when Itachi slew them all for their pettiness."

Naruto eyes were bulging at this information. With speed that could rival the Hiraishin, Naruto was gone. The only signal of what direction he'd gone was a rustling of leaves.

"Shit!" Sasuke cursed. Mizuki threw a few shuriken and kunai at the boy but Iruka blocked them.

"You will not hurt my students, traitor." Iruka said as he tried to wrench a kunai out of his leg.

Mizuki just smirked. "I'll come back to kill you after I've rid the world of that demon brat." He disappeared after Sasuke and Naruto.

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Sasuke was jumping through the trees, using his Sharingan which was, though only containing two tomoe in each eye, superior to the normal eyes. He checked every single nook and cranny with his chakra detection and eyes. Naruto was no where to be seen. He searched for five more minutes before a crash alerted him of something. Naruto came crashing out of the trees and learned against a tree with the scroll. Iruka landed next to him.

"Naruto," Iruka said, "give me the scroll, we can't allow Mizuki to get his hands on it." Naruto just jumped and head butted Iruka in the stomach. Iruka stumbled back and growled before poofing into Mizuki. "How'd you know I wasn't Iruka?" He asked, curious and angry.

"Because I'm Iruka." Naruto said before poofing into Iruka.

Mizuki growled. "Now the demon has the scroll and he's going to use it to destroy us." HE said, completely forgetting about what he said about idiots not seeing that he wasn't the demon.

Iruka smirked. "Heh, yeah, the fox would do that."

Over hiding behind a tree, a blond haired ninja stiffened. _So Iruka hates me too? _Naruto could feel tears coming on and he was close to releasing them when he heard Iruka speak again.

"But not Naruto." He said, with a grin. "Naruto is a loyal shinobi of Konoha. He would never do anything to Konoha."

Naruto was beyond happy at that. _So Iruka doesn't hate me!_ But the next words chilled him to the bone and a caused a small flare of red on the edges of his irises.

"You're getting in the way, Iruka." Mizuki growled, taking out his second giant shuriken. "I'm tired of it. I think I'll kill you first!" Mizuki swung the shuriken around, aiming for the scarred Chuunin's chest.

Sasuke was about to jump out to help but stopped right when he entered the clearing. An enraged Naruto sent his foot into Mizuki's face, sending him crashing into a tree. Sasuke winced. _He'll be feeling that tomorrow, providing he lives that long._

Naruto landed on the ground with his hand rest on one end of the large scroll that he set on the ground. "You touch Iruka-sensei, and I'll _**Kill You!**_" He said, his voice turning into a growl. The red wisps at edge of his irises whipped around, making a strange scene. Mizuki stood up and wiped the blood from his now-broken nose.

"You little brat!" He yelled. "You'll pay for that!" Mizuki readied his weapon again only for Naruto to give off a demon huff.

"Think what you want, teme." Naruto crossed the index and middle fingers of his hand with the other hand. "Kage Bushin no Jutsu!" Naruto yelled. A swarm of Narutos surrounded Mizuki and Iruka on all sides. Naruto grinned a decidedly feral and evil grin. Mizuki was about to shit himself at the sight of so many clones. Naruto glanced over to Sasuke's location. He made a circle with his hand and made a blowing motion. Naruto understood perfectly.

All of the clones stood to full height and grinned down at their target like he was fresh meat. "Goukakyuu no Jutsu(Grand Fireball Jutsu)!" Chorused the mass of blond ninjas. After the needed seals, they raised their hands to their mouths and spewed out a giant fireball each. The raging fires burnt Mizuki to a crisp. The heat could be felt by the real Naruto, Sasuke, Iruka, and the two ANBU that were watching. All of the clones disappeared as everyone looked on the dead body of the former Konoha ninja. He was practically burnt to the bone with all of his organs turned to mush.

Iruka turned green at the sight. A tired Naruto walked up to Iruka and smiled. "You okay, sensei?" Iruka just turned away from the mess on the ground.

"H-Hai, Naruto." Iruka closed his eyes for a second before looking at Naruto and smiling. "Naruto, close your eyes, I have something for you."

"What is it Iruka-sensei!" Naruto said, excitedly with his eyes closed. "Is it a cool jutsu?" He asked.

Iruka chuckled. "I don't think I could give you any jutsu that would be cooler than the ones in the Forbidden Scroll."

Naruto arched an eyebrow when he felt a weight settle on his head. Sasuke just smirked, unseen to the blond.

"Okay, you can open your eyes now." Iruka said. Naruto opened them to see a grinning Iruka without his headband. He reached his hand up and touched the cool metal that rest on his forehead.

"Thank you, Iruka-nii-san!" Naruto practically yelled before tackling the man in a powerful hug. Iruka winced a bit but it was just a pinch of pain that wasn't important.

Just after this the two ANBU dropped into the clearing. The front one, with a dog mask, signaled to the other to Mizuki's corpse. The ANBU followed what he understood was his orders and gathered the remains of the Chuunin. The remaining ANBU looked at Naruto.

"Naruto Uzumaki, you are under arrest for killing a Konoha shinobi." The ANBU seemed to smirk at their reactions. Naruto was one of complete disbelief while Sasuke and Iruka were purely angry.

"What is this!?" Iruka yelled. The ANBU chuckled.

"Just kidding." Everyone sweatdropped. "I'm here to deliver the scroll back to Hokage-sama and tell you two boys to report to his office an hour before you need to go to the academy." He held out his hand and took the scroll from the annoyed blond before disappearing in smoke.

_That Kakashi..._ Iruka thought with a smile.

-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-

The next day brought Naruto and Sasuke to the front door of the Hokage's office. Kumei had been left with an abundance of shadow clones to fight. A few minutes ago the first clone had been 'killed' and Naruto learned of his sister's sadistic nature. However, he ignored it for the meeting with the Hokage.

They entered to see the smiling face of Sarutobi. "Welcome, Naruto-kun, Sasuke-kun." He said.

"Did you want something, oji-san?" Naruto asked.

"I would like to talk about last night." The boys stiffened. Sarutobi just ignored it. "I was watching the whole fight and everything. First, I want to tell you two to not use any jutsu you found in that scroll unless it is needed. Kage Bushin being the exception." The boys nodded. After this the wizened man did a jutsu that covered the walls with a thin, transparent, silvery substance. It was a sound sealing jutsu. "Now, about what Mizuki told you about your tenants. He was right on all accounts. Naruto has the nine-tailed Kyuubi sealed in him and Sasuke has an angel, with about four tails of chakra, sealed in him. This doesn't make you any different from anyone else. You are still human, you are still children, but you just have way higher stamina and chakra coils than anyone else."

"But, why didn't you tell us before, oji-san?" Naruto asked.

"Because, Naruto, if I told back then, it would have had a worse effect and could've changed your outlook on life. It could have even made you hate Konoha because of the impressionable age. I originally wanted to tell you after you got Chuunin, but that went down the drain with Mizuki." Sarutobi lit his pipe and took a puff before standing to look out his window and the rising sun. "There is also something else you boys should know." He turned to look at them. "Ever since you were born, me and two of the council planned for you to be on the same team. It was later found out that there was an Oni-Tenshi Denrei(Demon-Angel Messenger) in Konoha. They were a group of people blessed by Kami with the ability to converse between the demon and angel dimensions. Unfortunately, most have died out and the few that are alive are very recluse and impossible to find. The one in the village had her memory wiped and settled down as a normal citizen. Her daughter has inherited the Oni-Tenshi Denrei blood and was added to your planned team a few years back. I will not tell you who, but you shall find out later today. But I forbid you from telling her until she unlocks her powers. She may be different but her case is different and she doesn't need to know until it can be explained in full."

The boys nod and Sasuke speaks. "Hai, oji-san. But, how do the beings inside of us affect us?"

Sarutobi smirked. "Eventually, you may be able to use their power, but the use of the Yondaime's seal is unknown, even to Jiraiya, the best seal master we have. But, as you can see, they may change a few physical things, such as Naruto's whiskers. Another thing is the massive stamina and chakra you boys possess. By the time you reach my age, you'll have at least thirty times as much chakra as I have, providing your tenant has that much to begin with. Now, get to the academy and wait for your Jonin instructor." Reluctantly the boy nodded and left. They still had other questions but those weren't that important at the moment.

-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-

Naruto and Sasuke sat in their normal, every day seats and waited for Iruka and the banshee twins. As if on cue, the two girls burst into the room, but refrained from bickering with each other when Iruka followed them in.

Iruka stood at the front of the class with a smile. He went through his whole speech thing about how proud he was, which Naruto just tuned out. He was feigning sleep until he heard their team.

"...Team Seven: Naruto Uzumaki, Sasuke Uchiha, and..." Naruto and Sasuke held their breath. "Sakura Haruno. Both boys sneaked a glance at the girl that cheered when she heard she was with 'her Sasuke-kun.' They both seriously doubted her usefulness in the field. "Team leader, Kakashi Hatake."

The rest of the morning went by, leading them to being released for lunch and then being called back in to meet their sensei. At least that _would_ be the case, if Kakashi had been there to meet them himself. The Jonin was late and Naruto and Sasuke were not going to let him get away with that. It had been two hours, TWO HOURS, that they had waited. He was going to get a nice present.

Naruto and Sasuke had set up an eraser in the door as a distraction while Naruto placed a scroll on the ceiling with a string leading around to his hand. Sasuke placed his own scroll on the wall outside and hid it with a simple genjutsu, that wouldn't be obvious but also easily broken, with his own string running to it. Sakura refrained from saying anything about being stupid since Sasuke was helping with it.

It was another hour, marking three hours late, that they heard footsteps. Slowly, agonizingly such, the steps approached the door and opened it. The eraser fell directly on top of his head with a small puff of chalk dust. The person wore the normal Jonin outfit with his headband slouched to cover his left eye. His gravity defying white hair was now covered in chalk dust. The first thing Sakura noticed, however, was the orange book that he held in his hand. _**Pervert!**_ Inner Sakura yelled.

He turned to look at them with a lazy look. "My first impression..." He didn't get a chance to finish as Naruto sent a spike of chakra through his string to release the bucket's worth of water in his scroll. It hit Kakashi directly on the head, almost getting his book wet. _So close!_ Sakura thought. "...is..."

Next it was Sasuke's turn to send out a spike of chakra. It disrupted his genjutsu and Kakashi immediately jumped to avoid the unsharpened kunai. When he looked down to see it pass his eyes widened. There was a third scroll on the ground that shot kunai out attached to wires. Kakashi was barely high enough to avoid the kunai as their strings went taut and fell back down. "You're insane!" He said, them reminding her of a very 'playful' snake Jonin.

Sasuke smirked. Naruto just laughed. "Ha, sensei! That what you get for being late and underestimating us! If those kunai didn't have strings attached, you wouldn't be the man you are now." Kakashi just chose to glare at the blond boy that reminded him so much of his sensei.

"Meet me on the roof." He said before he poofed out of existence. Naruto, who was closer to Sakura, placed his hand on her shoulder and he and Sasuke repeated the Jonin's move. They appeared on the steps to see that Kakashi was perfectly clean and fine, sitting on the guardrail.

"Before we start with introductions, I'd like to know how you got your hands on those kind of scrolls." He said, directing his words to Sasuke and Naruto.

"We made them." Sasuke said simply. But Naruto decided to expand.

"Yeah! We've been practicing for about a year now and all we can do is the storage and suppression seals. Which, I might add, almost caused the kunai to turn you into a woman." Naruto snickered and even Sakura giggled. Sasuke just held his smirk.

"Well, now, academy students studying on fuuinjutsu? Who might have taught you?" Kakashi asked, curiously. As far as he knew, only Jiraiya and Sarutobi knew of any kind of depth to sealing techniques.

"We taught ourselves after we weaseled the basics out of the old man." Naruto said with a foxy grin. "If we had a proper teacher, we would be farther than we are now, unfortunately, the old man has a village to run and the Jiraiya guy is off in the world somewhere."

_Interesting._ Kakashi thought. "Well, now let's begin introductions."

"Ne, why don't you start, sensei?" Sakura inquired. "So we know what to do."

Kakashi eye smiled. "My name is Kakashi Hatake. I have a few likes and dislikes. My hobby is...I might have a dream."

_All we learned was his name!_ The three Genin yelled in their heads. Kakashi just continued to smile. "Okay, you first, pinky." He said, pointing to Sakura.

"I'm Sakura Haruno. My likes are..." she glanced at Sasuke. "My dream is..." She glanced at Sasuke and squealed.

"And your dislikes?" Kakashi asked.

"Ino-pig!" She yelled.

Kakashi mentally sighed. _A lovesick fangirl. All they can about a this age is boys._ "You next, blondie."

Naruto grinned. "My name is Naruto Uzumaki! I like my brother in all but blood, Sasuke and my little imoto. And Ramen! Can't forget about ramen. I dislike traitors and chronically late perverts. My hobby is...gardening..." he said quietly, though everyone heard him, "My goal is to help Sasuke _destroy_ Itachi and to become Hokage!"

_Good goals, but he's an airhead from the looks of it._ "Big words coming from a Genin." Kakashi said.

"Considering what you saw me do to Mizuki-teme last night, you have the guts to say that?" Naruto said. Kakashi's visible eye widened. "Yeah, that's right. I could tell from your chakra signature. Though, when you tricked me saying I was being arrested." Naruto crossed his arms and looked to the side. "Feh. Me and Sasuke would've hauled ass had you tried to."

"I bet." Kakashi droned. _Damn, how could a Genin see me behind my ANBU mask? This team is promising. I might not put the mask back on after their test. They just might pass._ "The mime next." Kakashi said, referring to Sasuke's pale skin and his lack of talking since they met.

Sasuke scowled. "I am Sasuke Uchiha. I like my brother, Naruto, our sister, Kumei, and training. I dislike stupid fangirls and traitors. My goal is to kill Itachi and help Naruto achieve Hokage while maybe becoming Head of ANBU. I plan to rebuild my clan sometimes after Itachi's death."

_An avenger, yet not. Naruto must have gotten to him with his upbeat attitude. For that, I am thankful._ "Okay." Kakashi stood and clapped. How he did that with his book still in hand, the Genin didn't know but waited anyways. "Tomorrow we're going to be doing an exercise with just the four of us. A survival test!"

"But, sensei, we did survival tests back in the academy." Sakura asked.

Kakashi just smiled. "This is survival against me. And it will determine is I take you on as Genin."

"Ne, we're already Genin!" Naruto said annoyed.

"That was just to see if you had what it takes to be a Genin. The real test is up to the Joni sensei." Kakashi started laughing darkly.

Naruto shivered. "Ne, sensei, stop trying to be like a mad doctor! Orochimaru already took that position!" Sasuke and Sakura sweatdropped.

"It's just, what I'm about to tell you might make you flip." The Hatake said. The Genin all arched an eyebrow. "Well...it's just that out of the twenty-seven Genin-wannabes...only nine will pass." Kakashi reveled in the shocked faces of his students. "There is a sixty-six percent failure rate." There were all pale, though Sasuke did a good job of hiding it.

Kakashi threw away the demented demeanor and smiled again. "Report to Training Grounds Seven at seven am. And be sure you don't eat breakfast, or you might puke." Kakashi teleported away, leaving the Genin a little pale.

"Well, that blows." Naruto said. Sasuke and Sakura nodded. Naruto grinned. "Hey, guys, let's go to Ichiraku to get something to eat!" Sasuke stood and followed Naruto. Sakura followed, unsure of what to do.

-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-

When they reached Ichiraku Ramen, the found a small girl with brown hair sitting there. Naruto and Sasuke grinned. With speed unseen by Sakura, they ran up behind the girl and tried to tackler her. Only, they received an elbow in the gut each.

"Now, now, aniki and nii-san, it's not nice to sneak up on a woman." The girl said.

Naruto rubbed his stomach and mumbled. "Sometimes I wonder." The girl turned around and glared at Naruto with bright green eyes. A fist sent Naruto into the ground with a big bump on his head. The girl sat back down and continued eating. Sasuke backed away and choose a stool two seats from the girl.

"Remind me to never question the gender of a woman." Sasuke said out loud. The girl nodded.

Sakura just stood back watching as a girl, that couldn't be older than eight, take out Naruto and Sasuke, even with their speed. She was really feeling like the black sheep now. She was about to leave when a blond blur popped up in front of her.

"Ne, Sakura, aren't you going to stay? Food's on us." Naruto asked, smiling like a fox. "Little imoto won't hurt you." Naruto said as he sat in the seat between Sasuke and the girl.

"That is unless you question her gender." Sasuke added in. Kumei just sent a small glare at Naruto when the Uchiha said that.

"One of everything, oji-san!" Naruto said. The stand owner, Teuchi, and his daughter, Ayame, smiled kindly at Naruto and set about making his food. Sasuke and Sakura just order a single miso ramen each.

When the food arrived, they began to eat, or plow through it in Naruto's case. Kumei just finished hers and waited for her older brothers to finish. Sasuke and Sakura finished long before Naruto did and just stared in awe/disgust at the amount of food Naruto was putting down. He finished with his twentieth bowl and placed the money for all four on the stand before getting up and stretching a bit.

"Let's go. We'll walk Sakura back to her house and then go home. Maybe train." Sasuke and Kumei nodded while Sakura looked at him weirdly. He defiantly wasn't the idiot she thought he was.

"How often do you guys train?" Sakura asked, hesitantly.

Naruto was the first to answer. "We've been training almost every day since we ran away from the orphanage when we were five." Naruto's smile was warm and happy, one you wouldn't expect from an orphan who supported himself since the age of five.

"How strong are they?" Sakura mumbled to herself. He didn't mean it to be heard but that didn't stop them from hearing it.

"Alone, we could each take on a mid to high level Chuunin." Sasuke said. "Together, we could take on a mid to high level Jonin with a seventy-five precent chance of victory."

Sakura stared wide-eyed at them. They were so strong, yet she was so weak. She'd probably fail the test tomorrow and be sent back to the academy.

The two boys led them out of the stand away towards where Sakura lived in the civilian homes.

As they walked, Sakura became increasingly aware of the glares that the villagers sent at them. Kumei and Sasuke had grim faces while Naruto held onto his foxy grin, seemingly not noticing them. Though, with his power, she knew he did. She turned to the other female in the group.

"Why are they glaring at us?" she asked. Kumei shook her head.

"They're not glaring at us. They're glaring at Naruto-nii-san." She said sadly. "I don't know why and if those two know, they won't tell us."

Sakura looked at Naruto who, after hearing their conversation, lost his grin and walked solemnly down the street. To have to put up with this every day and not kill them, Naruto was amazing.

"But that's not the worst..." Kumei said, a bit teary. Naruto tensed, which didn't go unnoticed by Sakura. "They even try to beat him up and...sniff...kill him." Sakura's eyes widened so far that Sasuke was afraid her eyeballs would pop out. Kumei continued. "They use everything from knives to pitch forks to do it. He ignores the glares and would protect the village and the villagers even with their attitude. He's the strongest person I've seen alive." Kumei had tears running down her face. "And how he came out of one of the beating one day!" She was near bawling, Sakura tried to comfort the girl, but to no avail. "H-He was broken everywhere. His legs, arms, ribs...it was horrible. There was so much blood. There must have been at least a liter and a half of it. Even with his amazing healing abilities, he was in the hospital for two weeks, healing."

"W-Why doesn't he just fight back?" Sakura asked, a bit teary herself.

Kumei wiped her eyes and looked up at the older girl. "Aniki says he doesn't want to hurt the villagers. Says if he did, he'd be just like them. They call him nasty names like 'demon' and 'hell spawn' but he ignores them and continues wanting to protect them."

Sakura looked at Naruto in an entirely different light. "The only demons are the villagers." Sakura said to the little girl.

Naruto and his darkened face stared off into the distance. _If only they knew._ He thought, remembering about the Kyuubi. He was brought out of his funk by Sasuke's hand on his shoulder. His eyes seemed to say 'Don't, it's not worth it.' Naruto took his unspoken advice and loosened his fists. He set ahead the same as before but without his smile.

When they arrived at Sakura's house, she let go of Kumei and opened the door. She stopped and turned to look at them and smile. "Good-bye Sasuke-kun, Naruto-kun, and Kumei-chan." Her smile was forced and they could tell it. She'd changed that night. Her addition of -kun to Naruto's name the only physical proof. She shut the door and the other three left at high speeds across the roofs to their compound.

When they arrived, they entered and prepared for their pre-sleep rituals. Naruto was brushing his teeth when Sasuke came in and placed his hand on Naruto's shoulder. The blond looked at the Uchiha's dark, but calm eyes.

"We've made another ally, Naruto." Sasuke said.

"Maybe." the blond started. "but, she's weak...painfully so."

"Yes," Sasuke agreed, "we'll have to change that. We'll train her ourselves alone with sensei and when she unlocks her hidden potential, she'll progress even faster."

"Yeah." Naruto said, without his usual happiness. Now it was just emotionless. "That'd be good. Maybe we could replace the current Sannin." He said, jokingly, though with their powers, they knew they had a good chance at doing just that. "Good night, Sasuke."

"Good night, Naruto." The two walked their separate ways.

**-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-**

**May be a bit angsty at the end, but then again, I'm not completely sure what angst is.**

**Next chapter will include the Bell Test and Beginning of the Wave Arc.**

**VOTE: Should I go through the fillers or skip them?  
**

**YES: I will go through half of them but cut out the unimportant ones.**

**NO: I will only go through maybe the first movie and one or two filler arcs.**

**In any case, I plan to do the First Movie at least.**


	3. Training the OniTenshi Denrei

**Started this later than I wanted to. **

**-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-**

**This fic occurs with Itachi killing his clan when Sasuke was five. Sasuke finds Naruto and they both agree to help the other.**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto or anything I take from other animes or mangas.**

**Started****: May 9, 2008**

**Worked On****: May 10, 2008**

**Finished****: May 11, 2008**

**Total Days Worked****: 3 Days**

**Start to Finish****: 3 Days**

**-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-**

**Chapter 3****: Training the Oni-Tenshi Denrei**

-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-

Naruto's annoyed blue eyes stared at the single brown eye of the chronically late Jonin. He was only late two hours this time, but was late nonetheless. "Ne, Kakashi-sensei." Naruto said, his voice filled with chill. "Keep your schedule the way it is and you might just lose your mini-me in a few days." Naruto watched the Jonin. He seemed perfectly confident in his own abilities to escape, that didn't settle well with Naruto so the blond interrupted the pervert's next sentence. "Don't think I can't, either. You must be forgetting that I'm the boy that could outrun and hide from Konoha _**ANBU**_ and never get caught when I was only eight."

Naruto grinned in satisfaction when Kakashi's face paled slightly. Sakura wasn't able to catch it but Sasuke did and smirked. Kakashi nervously eye-smiled and sweatdropped. "Now, now, that won't be needed. Heheh...Anyways..." Kakashi pulled out a clock and put it on a stump, setting the alarm. "You will have until noon to retrieve a bell from me." He said, holding up two bells.

"Wait, sensei, why are there only two bells?" Sakura asked.

"Forget that!" Naruto yelled. "Why the hell are you late when you have a perfectly fine clock right there!?"

Kakashi chose to ignore the fuming blond. "The person who doesn't get a bell will fail." He said, simply. "As I said, you have until noon to get a bell. And you better come at me with the intent to kill or you'll fail." With a quick eye-smile, Kakashi said, "Go!" and watched as all three shot off into different directions.

-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-

Naruto crouched next to Sasuke on the branch as they watched the Jonin carefully.

"Ne, Sasuke, what should we do?" Naruto asked, running over all his jutsu in his head. Sasuke didn't respond immediately. He was thinking.

"Naruto, why would one of us get disqualified if oji-san said that this team had been planned for a long time?" Naruto shrugged until he saw what Sasuke was saying.

"You know, come to think of it, I've never seen a Genin team with only two Genin unless one of them died." Naruto put his hand on his chin to think. "Think he's tricking us?"

"Probably." Sasuke said, staring intently at the figure that was the Jonin. "Were taught to look underneath the underneath. This has to either be a test of teamwork or he's a dick sensei."

"I vote for both." Naruto muttered under his breath. "Whatever let's just find Sakura and tell her what we've figured out. We've already agreed to train her later." The two sped off to where they could feel the female member's chakra signature.

"We still need to figure out what to teach her." Sasuke said. "She has low chakra but her control is near perfect. We'll work on her reserves mostly while keeping her control top notch."

Naruto nodded. "Maybe she could do what the old hag did. That Tsuna woman." Sasuke deadpanned.

"That's Tsunade, Naruto. What I gleamed of her fighting style is only an educated guess and it should work. We'll have to have her test it if she has the concentration and control." Sasuke stored away a note to test her later as they arrived behind her. Naruto and Sasuke each placed a hand on her shoulder. She jumped a bit and turned around before sighing in relief.

"Jeez, guys." She whispered. "You scared me." _Sasuke-kun is here!_ She thought.

"Sakura," Naruto began. "We need to work together. This is a test about teamwork, we hope, and we're going to prove this bastard what we can do." Sakura was a bit hesitant to believe Naruto.

"We know you have little chakra and weak taijutsu so you won't be able to physically help much." Sasuke said. Sakura just hung her as her crush spoke the painful truth. "We'll fix that later. Right now, you're just the brains. So, you should try and make up a plan."

Sakura was elated. _Sasuke-kun wants me to help! __**CHAA! **_Inner Sakura piped in. "Okay, I don't know what you two can do but you're at least Chuunin. First, we'll..."

-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-

Kakashi was standing in the middle of the clearing, reading his orange book and giggling. _Wonder where the children are._ He thought to himself during a break of perversion. Either_ they're stupid, or they're planning something. I should be on guard._ The next part in the book made him blush extra hard and he nearly forgot to watch out, but he stayed vigilant.

It wasn't until seven minutes later when the attack came. He was almost too absorbed to notice it but he lifted his left arm at the last moment. The kick crashed into his arm and, to his surprise, he was pushed back a foot. _Strong._ He thought. He ducked an overhead kick and caught an incoming fist. He stared at the bright blue eyes that signified his teacher reincarnate. "Nice try." He said with an eye smile. He slipped his book into his pouch and caught Sasuke's punch before jumping over the sweep kick and laying flat to avoid the overhead one, forcing him to release Naruto. The blond struck quickly and hit the white-haired ninja where the sun don't shine. He didn't expect the man to disappear in a poof of smoke to reveal a log. He cursed and jumped away.

Sasuke copied Naruto's movement and quickly scanned around. _Left, right, behind me, up, down! _"Sasuke's thoughts were right as he launched himself into the air to avoid two hands that would've trapped him. He looked over to see that Naruto was less fortunate and was now just a head in the ground with a smiling Kakashi next to him.

Sasuke smirked as the Naruto head poofed into smoke and Kakashi quickly jumped back. The Uchiha landed in front of the elite ninja and began a taijutsu match where Kakashi blocked every single one of his attacks. That is, until a legion of Narutos burst from the tree line with an equal amount of Sasukes following.

_Holy shit!_ Kakashi thought before he created a few clones of his own. He was hard pressed to survive but the clones all came at his front. They all pressed in, not giving the man a second to retaliate. The fight last for about six minutes before all of the clones just disappeared in a massive cloud of smoke. All that was left was a single Naruto and Sasuke, smirking. Sakura jumped out from the forest and landed next to Sasuke with her own smirk.

Kakashi was about to get into a defensive stance but he was stopped by the alarm going off. He reached to grab the bells and smiled. "Well, looks like you guys..." He trailed off when he noticed the bells were gone. "Hrm..." He hummed to himself.

Naruto grinned. "Ne, Kakashi-sensei, we got the bells." He said, holding them up. "And a little insurance." This time he held up an orange book and Kakashi's eyes widened.

Kakashi calmed himself down. "Well then, if you don't mind, how did you do it?"

Sakura smiled. "Well, when they first attacked you, Naruto discreetly put two ticks on you. They each traveled to one of the two target areas and, when they were ready, changed back into Narutos. That was also when the other clones disappeared and in the confusion, the first two gave the items to the real Naruto."

Kakashi 'hmm'ed and looked over his Genin. "Well, I suppose the plan was your doing, Sakura." She nodded. "Well then, I guess I'll just have to pass you!" He smiled. "We'll start missions tomorrow. Same time, same place as today." Before Kakashi poofed away, he retrieved his book and bells and received a message from Naruto. The message wasn't verbal but Kakashi understood it just as well. Naruto grabbed one of his kunai and pointed it threateningly towards Kakashi's manhood. The Jonin shivered and disappeared.

Naruto sighed. "Well, how about some ramen!" This got a groan out of Sasuke.

"I vote for dango." He said.

"Me too." Sakura said. She giggled when Naruto started to cry fake tears and acting like he'd just bee betrayed.

"Fine, but Uchiha is paying!" The blond said with a smile before leading them off to the dango stand.

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The next day brought Naruto standing in front of Sakura. Missions had finished for the day so now it was time to start her personal training. He and Sasuke had decided to train her every other day each and Naruto got the first day. His blue eyes staring into her eyes as if searching her very soul. "Sakura." Naruto began, Sakura paid attention. She knew she could get stronger under her teammates' tutelage and if she was stronger, Sasuke might go out with her. "You have very low chakra reserves, but high control. You also have an infatuation with Sasuke. As of now, that will stop at all times while training and on missions. Understand?" His voice wasn't cold but it was stern. She hesitantly nodded. "Good, now, we'll start out with a chakra control exercise that will help you increase your reservoir over time. While training with Sasuke, you will work on physical training. I will focus on chakra control, storage, and application. First, we will practice tree climbing without your hands."

Naruto noticed the confused expression on Sakura's face. He smiled and walked over to a tree before stepping on it and continued walking up it. Sakura had her mouth hanging open. "Sakura, to do this, focus chakra to your feet so that they stick to the tree. You must keep a constant amount of chakra in your feet to make this work. The feet are the hardest place to draw chakra too and by learning this, it will be easier to draw it to other parts of the body and to learn jutsu." Naruto dropped from the tree to the ground. "Personally, I'd recommend going to the tree and testing out to see how much chakra is needed to stick and then get a running start."

Sakura nodded but looked a bit fearful. She wasn't afraid of heights, but she wasn't too drawn to them. She'd never been up high before actually, but she doubted she'd like it. She let out a sigh and walked to the tree before doing as Naruto suggested. She placed her right foot on the tree and changed the amount of chakra until it would stick. She memorized it and backed up. She prepped herself mentally and charged the tree. She placed her first foot on the tree and continued going up. She could feel how high she was and the thought almost made her lose focus until she heard Naruto shout, "Focus!" She did that and slowed to a walk before sitting herself on a high branch.

Next, she did what she didn't want to. She looked down and was shocked to find Naruto looked like an ant. Looking up, she saw there was only about five yards to the top of the tree. The limb she was on was just enough to support her. She was surprised to find that the height didn't affect her much. It was just slightly mind boggling to be so high up when man was meant to stay on the ground. She stopped her sight seeing when she heard Naruto calling for her.

"Sakura! I want you to run up and down this tree until you run out of chakra." His voice was loud enough to reach her easily even though he talked without actually raising his voice. He was probably using chakra to enhance it somehow. "Do this every day. It will help build your reserves if you go to bed with empty ones. Because the body is used to replenishing your chakra while you're still awake, and the process is faster while asleep. So, it will go as long as it would during the day, but it fills faster so it starts to expand your coils to fit the extra chakra that it creates. Do this every day, even on days you train with Sasuke, when we're not on a mission outside of Konoha."

"Hai!" She shouted down before viewing the scene before her. It was beautiful, the sun was still an hour above the tree line. Looking out from the top of the tree she could see the most of the village and a lot of the forest. It was peaceful. She let herself have one more look before she attached herself back to the tree and ran to the bottom. She slowed down and spun around before running back up. She would continue this routine for twenty minutes before her chakra would run out.

Naruto watched from the shadows as she did it. _So, twenty minutes if her starting max. Tomorrow, she'll be able to last twenty-three. Then, twenty-seven or so. After that she'll start increasing faster. Thirty-five, forty-two, fifty. She'll come along nicely._ Naruto turned and shunshinned back to his apartment.

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Sasuke looked up at Naruto when he heard the poof. "So, how did training go?" He inquired.

The blond grinned. "Pretty good. She was able to get up on her first try, but that's just more proof of her minuscule reserves. She made it twenty minutes today and will get about twenty-three tomorrow if she was in top shape. Though, with your training, she won't last that long."

Sasuke nodded. "Tomorrow, her physical training begins."

The door swung open before the boys could grin and Kumei jumped in. "Nii-san, Aniki! It's time for our jog around Konoha! Let's go."

Sasuke sighed and stood up. Naruto looked at his adopted sister. "Ne, imoto, how many laps this time?"

"Fifty!" She said, excited. Naruto raised an eyebrow.

"Fifty, eh? Last time was forty. Upping it a lot this time. Let's see if you can handle it." With that, the three set off for the main gate where they'd exit Konoha and run right outside the wall.

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Today was the second day of training and missions with Kakashi. The man hadn't shown up but thirty minutes late for the past two days because of Naruto's threat. Sakura was now standing in front of Sasuke, blushing.

"Today," the Uchiha began. "We work on physical strength. While you shouldn't need much strength for the things you will probably learn, you are weak even compared to Genin. We will build your stamina, which will allow faster buildup of chakra reserves. First, twenty-five push ups, fifty sit ups, fifty punches with each arm and fifty kicks with each leg. After that we will run two laps around Konoha and increase by one every training session." Sasuke fell to the ground to begin push ups. Sakura followed, trying to ignore Sasuke's moving body. He was finished with four times what she had to do when she got done. He tilted his head towards the gate and walked off. Sakura followed and let thoughts of Sasuke invade her mind. But each time they tried, they would be ruthlessly beaten down by the words Naruto told her the day before. _'You also have an infatuation with Sasuke. As of now, that will stop at all times while training and on missions. Understand?'_ She pushed the thoughts out of her mind, reluctantly, and followed Sasuke out of the gate. She was dreading what was about to happen.

Her crush set off at a decent speed that she kept up with. Running wasn't that bad when starting, but she soon felt the pain of running. She was breathing heavy when they were a quarter of the way around the first lap. She was not exhausted yet, but she wasn't used to putting this kind of physical effort forward and wasn't used to breathing right. She knew it'd straighten up, but that thought didn't make her any more comfortable running.

She surprised herself when her legs didn't start to burn until they were three-fourths of the way finished with lap one. She bit her lip and tried to ignore the pain like they'd been told in the academy. She would do this, if not for Sasuke-kun, then for herself. _Push! If I become stronger, Sasuke may start to like me!_ Her will forced her to move.

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By the time they finished, Sakura wasn't feeling hardly any pain because of the endorphins that her body produced when they'd reached the one-third mark on the second lap. She was going good after that. Now they were done and Sakura knew they had another thing to do before she started on her tree climbing.

"Now, repeat the exercises and perform Naruto's assigned routine. Then you're dismissed. I'd recommend getting some food before heading home." Sasuke shunshinned into a nearby tree to watch and see if the girl listened.

Of course, she started her push ups, sit ups, and the rest of her exercises. The endorphins were starting to wear off and she could feel the pain her body was in, barely. She started running up and down a tree just like the previous day, though she only lasted seven minutes because of the physical activities.

_What a day._ She thought before she fell to the ground unconscious. Sasuke sighed and appeared by her.

"Poor girl, worked herself to her limits." He picked her up bridal style and walked towards her home. _I sure hope she's doing this more for herself than for me. Her infatuation with me could cause her trouble on missions._ The black-eyed and black-haired Uchiha entered Sakura's bedroom window and set her down on the bed. He removed her zoris and covered her before jumping back out the window, leaving no evidence that he was there.

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Sasuke and Naruto were standing in front of Sakura who was sitting on the ground in front of two marbles. They'd been doing D-rank missions and training Sakura for a month and they figured it was time to see if she could perform the technique. Naruto decided to start.

"What we are going to teach you today is a form of 'super strength.' It takes great chakra control that neither me nor Sasuke have. In fact, hardly anyone has attained the amount of control for it." The blond was smirking. They'd taught her the water walking shortly after the tree climbing and then she had to levitate a kunai over her hand. They moved to the other extremities of the body and then made her do water walking or tree climbing while levitating the kunai. Her chakra level was about mid to high-level Genin. Her chakra control was still perfect, or as perfect as you could get. "It doesn't take as much chakra as jutsu but it takes concentration and focus to use. Now, flick the first marble as hard as you can." Sakura nodded.

The pink-haired ex-banshee aligned her finger with the marble and flicked with all her strength. The marble flew about seventeen feet out. The girl looked back to her team mates. Naruto calmly walked towards the flicked marble.

"Good strength to begin with." Sasuke said. "Now, focus a layer of chakra around your middle finger so that it will stop the pain of coming into contact with the marble." Sakura did as she was told and Sasuke could see the blue outline with his Sharingan. "Now, focus chakra into your finger like in tree climbing." He watched as the outline of chakra filled into her whole finger covered in chakra. Sasuke smiled." Good, now for the hard part. You have to release the inner chakra in a burst without the outer shield faltering. Practice doing that until you're confident you can do it." Naruto came back with the marble and set it down on the ground back where it was before.

The blond smirked. "Come to us when you're confident enough." Naruto and Sasuke walked over to a tree to begin their planning. "Alright, Sasuke, we need to find out what would suit her best. She has mediocre chakra levels, very high control, and book smarts."

Sasuke contemplated for a second. "Sounds like a medic-nin to me. We'd have to find someone else to train her for that, though. We could teach her weapons or solid chakra manipulation. Then...we could start her on chakra manipulation. It would give her an edge to have jutsu she could do with less chakra than normal."

Naruto nodded. "That sounds good." He noticed a lack of chakra usage and looked back to see Sakura walking towards them.

"I got it." She said, smiling. She raised her hand and flicked. Sasuke watched the chakra shell form and fill before the contained chakra blasted out in a single direction.

"Good." Sasuke said, smiling. She was coming along well. He led the other two back behind the marbles. "Flick one of them as hard as you can and release as much chakra as possible. Make sure to release right on contact with the marble. Don't push it into the marble just release."

Sakura did as he said. She curled her finger back and aimed for a tree. She let her finger fly with all of her strength and all the chakra she could fit in her finger. She felt the contact with the marble but, surprisingly, it didn't hurt in the least. Now, what happened next surprised her even more. The marble shattered and millions of nearly invisible shards riddled the ground and tree. The pieces each made their own barely discernible hole. The closer they were, the deeper the hole went. As far as Sasuke could see, the deepest was four inches.

"Impressive." Naruto said. "You seem to be getting the hang of this. Now, a question. How would you stop the marble from shattering while still hitting it with the same amount of power?"

Sakura stopped to think. It took her around four minutes before she made up her mind. "I suppose you'd have to harden the material or place a chakra coat on it too."

"Good." Sasuke said. Sakura deadpanned. He used that word way too much. "Practice coating the marble and your finger in chakra while filling and expelling the chakra form your finger. But don't actually hit the marble until you're ready and we can supervise it."

Naruto continued from Sasuke's words. "This is the reason it takes so much chakra control. Hardly anybody has the control and concentration to focus on two different chakra manipulations. This is three and is even harder. The only time anyone's ever focused on more than one is when they're doing something that is ingrained into their reflexes, like tree climbing or water walking. Continue this for your training tonight. We'll come back tomorrow to finish the lesson."

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It was an hour later when Sakura was able to barely focus all three. While she was doing it, though, she noticed that when she expelled the chakra from her finger, it came out in a burst in all around where she was hitting. She'd have to ask about that later. She had been practicing with a few clumps of dirt she pulled up. Every time, she'd lose focus on the object's cloak and it would bust.

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Naruto and Sasuke came back the next day to see Sakura practicing. _She must be really into it if she's already back out here this early._ Sasuke thought. Sakura had forgone the dirt clumps today, and was instead just focusing on keeping all three chakra areas focused. She could do it with concentration now, though she assumed after months of use, it'd become reflex.

"Sakura." She was startled out of her practice when her two team metes came up. It was about an hour before their sensei would arrive. Naruto grinned. "Now it's time to put it to use." He pointed to the marble and then a tree. "Flick the marble at that tree using the exercise you've been working on."

The girl sighed and lowered herself next to the marble. She was hoping she could do it right, but more, she was wondering what kind of effect it would have. Her finger curled back and she gathered the chakra on instinct. She focused on the marble and aimed for a hard knot in the tree trunk. When she was ready, she let loose her finger. She felt the painless contact and watched in awe as the marble shot from the ground like a bullet and a large crack appeared in the knot. She hadn't even been able to see the marble fly.

Sasuke knew she and Naruto wouldn't see the marble's flight but, with his Sharingan, he could. It had flew straight and almost shattered just from the high speeds. When it hit the tree he was shocked. "The marble went in about six inches and the area around the knot is terribly unstable. The marble itself is non-existent now." They all stared at the tree up close.

Sakura was the first to break out of her funk as she remembered her question. "Ne, Naruto, Sasuke-kun. I noticed that when I flick, the chakra sprays out all around the area. Wouldn't I able able to focus it into a single area and increase the power?"

Naruto eyes bugged out. "Good god, isn't is strong enough?"

Sasuke ignored the blond. "That is the next step but it is a waste for the basic style. It's only use would be when flicking a object at something. You may practice on your own time, but it is not part of our training plans. Now, apply the same concept but on your fist and punch the ground. Applying the chakra to the ground wouldn't have much of an effect besides lowering the height of the land."

Sakura did as Sasuke told her to. It took a lot more chakra than one finger and was bit harder to concentrate on. But she pulled through and flung her arm to the ground as hard as she could. She felt her fist sink into the earth but it didn't stop there. Spiderweb cracks rippled out from the point of impact and a few areas upturned. "Sugoi(Amazing)..." She said.

"Think that's amazing?" Naruto asked. "Wait until you can do it as well as it's inventor. She can cause the whole area to churn itself. She can shatter a tree trunk with a single punch. The problem is, when used on another person, their body will sense the chakra and will put up a small barrier of chakra. So, it will not rip a limb or shatter a skull. But, it will still hurt them...like hell." The blond rubbed a phantom pain in his arm.

Sasuke continued where he left off. "As it is, it is possible to break their arm by overpowering the barrier, but I wouldn't worry because their limb would be numb for a while from the hit."

"Sensei is almost here." Naruto cut in. "Sakura, along with depleting your chakra every night, practice using this method on every part of your body that could be used as a weapon."

"This list is: the forehead, chin, hands, feet, heels, fingers, knees, elbows, hip, shoulders, forearm, and shin." Sasuke said, listing the useful ones. "This will get your body used to it and make it sort of a reflex. It will help with the chakra control and focus later on."

Sakura stood up and rolled her arm. They watched as their eternally tardy sensei arrived thirty minutes passed his set time. Naruto was okay with the thirty minutes, as it seemed he wouldn't ever arrive on time unless it was life or death.

"Yo!" He said with a smile. "If your training is done, let's get to missions and then some jutsu training afterwards." That was about all he could teach them, along with ethics and life lessons, seeing as Naruto and Sasuke were already high Chuunin and they were both training Sakura.

Sasuke grunted, Naruto huffed, and Sakura glared.

The pervert sweatdropped. "Don't worry, next week we'll go on a C-rank mission, how does that sound?" He asked. He received three nods. _They're ready for one, but I don't know if they're ready for their first kill if we have to deal with bandits._

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"Pein." A female voice said. The orange-haired Jonin Boss of Ame turned to look at his partner. She had just started reeling in her large paper wings. She was the Angel of God in Ame and Pein was God. Everyone knew this. "The Kazuka clan seems to have survived the annihilation years ago and they're rallying against you." Well, some people refused to believe he was God.

Pein seemed to think a bit before he grinned. "I'll handle it. I think Naruto and Sasuke would like to visit sooner than expected. How long do we have until they attack?"

"We have about two and a half months." She replied.

"I'll send out a messenger in two months time to Konoha requesting their presence." Pein sighed. "This time we'll eradicate the Resistance and set up an alliance with Konoha. I'm also interested to see how the boys have progressed."

"May I inquire as to why you watch these boys as you do instead of removing the Bijuu?" Konan asked. She knew she was out of line, but Pein wouldn't mind much.

Pein's frown disturbed her a bit. "Madara works in contrast to myself. I'll put of his plans as much as I can without him knowing. Luckily he cannot leave the temple in his new body for three years." Konan nodded and shunshinned out. "Madara." Pein muttered under his breath in disgust. "I have the only two people who could ever end you on my side."

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Sakura's fist crashed into the ground as she released the pent up chakra. The ground erupted in a straight line and flung a black object into the air. "Red Berry here phase one complete. Ramen Lord, Darkness King, you're up." Sakura shook her head a bit at Naruto's code name but kept her vision focused on the target. They were currently on the most dangerous mission any Genin ever went on in th Hidden Leaf.

"Roger." Came the static-laden voice. Two blurs shot out of the trees on opposite sides of the black object. They landed on a branch and jumped around to circle around. Once more and they both fell to the ground with a poor defenseless black cat tied up with rope. It let out a pitiful meow.

Sasuke held the cat up and click his headset. "Plagiarist, target apprehended. Ribbon on ear confirmed. Mission accomplished."

"Ne, Kakashi," Naruto said, "I think it's time for that C-rank mission you promised us. These D-ranks are almost enough for me to go all Itachi on cat kind." Sasuke grunted in annoyance at the reference but smirked all the same. Kakashi, in the distance, just sighed.

"Hai, hai. Report to the rendezvous point." The connection was cut and the three Genin jumped off towards town where Kakashi was waiting, being a lazy ass sensei.

The three Genin met up with their sensei and, with a glare, set off for the Hokage's tower.

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Naruto glared at the cat as it's overweight owner, the fire Daimyo's wife, carried it out. Sasuke smirked in superiority at the cat and Sakura ground her fist into an open palm. The cat clung to the woman like a lifeline. Kakashi, Iruka, and Sarutobi sweatdropped.

Team Seven was currently in the missions room waiting to receive their next mission after returning the hell cat. Kakashi stopped the Hokage from going through the D-rank missions. "Hokage-sama, I believe my team is ready for a C-rank mission now."

Iruka stood up. "But they just left the academy a month ago! They should wait a get more training before leaving on a C-rank!"

Kakashi just eye-smiled at the Chuunin. "Iruka, Naruto and Sasuke were high Chuunin level when the _left_ the academy." Sarutobi raised an eyebrow while Iruka' eyes bulged a bit. "And they have been helping Sakura and have reconstructed Tsunade's legendary strength. I'm sure they can handle it."

"How were they able to replicate Tsunade's strength? Only she knows the theory behind it." Iruka said, sitting down in disbelief.

Sarutobi fake coughed. "Uh, I think I might know." The Chuunin and Jonin turned to look at their superior in interest. "You see, they started training when they were five. When they were eight or so, they would leave the village for weeks at a time doing their own missions. It was one of these missions, during an academy break, when they ran across Tsunade. According to their report, she almost killed them, but Sasuke used his Sharingan to see what she did. Apparently, it takes perfect chakra control and focus. So, Sakura is probably the only one that will ever be able to do it, besides Hinata."

"You guys left the village seeking missions?" Kakashi asked, looking at his two male charges.

"Hell yeah!" Naruto shouted. "We've taken on B and A-rank missions!"

"And one S-rank mission where you almost died." Sasuke muttered.

"Hey! The fact is, I didn't die, and we even got our little sister then. If not for me, she'd be crushed under a ton of wood and burnt by the fire."

"Ahem." The Hokage drew everyone's attention. "I don't think we need everyone knowing what went on during the specific mission. Specifically where it was. Now, before we forget," Here he stopped to pick up a scroll. "you will be protecting a certain man while you escort him back to Wave Country and guard him while building a bridge." Sarutobi called out to the man and the door opened.

They all watched in disappointment as a red-faced drunk with glasses, a towel around his neck, and tattered clothes walked in. He looked at them. "I ask for bodyguards and I get an emo, an idiot, and a fangirl?" Sasuke bristled at that while Sakura glared. Naruto however...

"What did you just say!?" He refrained from attacking the man.

"I assure you sir," Kakashi cut in, "My Genin are perfectly capable of protecting you. And if they can't, I'm a Jonin and can handle anything that comes our way." His eye smile disturbed Tazuna slightly. Kakashi turned to his students. "Pack for a month away and meet at the front gate in an hour."

With a nod and two puffs of smoke, the three Genin were gone.

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Sarutobi went back to his paperwork after he'd left the missions room. Until a poof signaled that a ninja entered his office. He looked up to see Naruto with an emotionless face. He barely noticed it before it split into a wide grin.

"Ne, oji-san, I was wondering if I could take Kumei along with us." He asked. "I want her to get some experience in the field."

Sarutobi tilted his head down and considered the pros and cons. Sure, she'd get experience but she might also hold the team back. It wasn't completely unusual to take others on the lower ranked missions but Tazuna seemed to be nervous when asking for the mission so he might have lied.

His musings were cut short when Naruto spoke. "If it's any consolation, she's high Genin in level." That cut down on a few cons.

"I suppose so. Just make sure to keep an eye on her and don't let her fight if any ninjas come along."

Naruto grinned. "Thanks oji-san! I'll make sure she doesn't affect the mission or hurt herself." Naruto shunshinned out of the office.

Sarutobi sighed. _Maybe I should make Naruto and Sasuke Jonin sensei or academy teachers. They're powerful by themselves and they managed to get Sakura up to high Genin at the least._ Sarutobi mused a bit before he saw a movement int eh corner of his eye. He spun around with a kunai ready only to see his paperwork stack had doubled. "Son of a..."

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Sakura landed next to the gate with a light backpack to see Naruto, Sasuke, and Kumei standing there. She walked up to them with a smile.

"Hey, guys. What's Kumei doing here?" she asked, confused.

Naruto grinned. "She'll be coming with us!"

"And why's that, Naruto?" The cyclops asked as he walked up with Tazuna in tow. "She's not even in the academy yet."

"Meh," Naruto waved his concerns off, "she's High Genin in level and can take care of herself. In any case, oji-san approved it and I want her to get some real life experience."

"Just make sure she doesn't go against anyone she can't handle." Kakashi said before leading them out of the gate.

"Yay!" Kumei yelled, jumping in the air. "Aniki, this is my first time out of the village since I came here!"

Naruto just grinned back at her. "Maybe you'll get to kick some bandit ass too!" He laughed. "But if ninja attack, let us handle it. Any that come would be higher than your level."

"Hai, aniki. Maybe we'll come across some bandits then. I want to test myself! I mean, it's fun beating the tar out of your clones, but the real thing is a true test since they won't hold back." She skipped along side Naruto

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After a while, they passed by a puddle in the road. There was nothing odd about it at all, except that fact that it hadn't rained in a week. They just continued on with Kakashi, Sasuke, and Naruto giving the puddle a glance.

It wasn't long after they passed that two figures with breathing masks and gauntlets with a chain connecting them rose from the puddle. They both swung around Kakashi and trapped him within their chain. The chain links had spikes that sliced through the pervert as both men pulled. Next they turned to the remnants of the group and charged.

"Kumei, Sakura, protect Tazuna." Naruto said, his face set into one of grim determination. Sasuke pulled out the oni blade he'd taken from the Kazuka Jonin and disappeared. He reappeared between the two Mist Missing-nin. Their chain fell apart before the flat of the blade hit the taller one in the face.

"You bastard!" He said before slicing at Sasuke with his claw. The Uchiha simply jumped over it and kicked the guy in the face. He did a flip in the air and brought his heel down on the Mist nin's head. The missing-nin fell unconscious and Sasuke tied him to a tree.

The other ninja swerved around Naruto and tried to attack Tazuna. He failed when Sakura's fist crashed into his face, flinging him back. Naruto brought up his foot and kicked him dead-center in the back. Naruto spun and back handed the guy, leaving him in the same state his partner was in.

Kakashi jumped from the trees and approached the two tied up Mist nin. "Well Tazuna," He said without turning around, "it seems you have some explaining to do." Now he turned around and set his gaze on the sweating man.

Tazuna was sweating bullets as the ninja watched him, waiting for his answer. "Well, you see, Wave Country has been taken over by an evil man, Gato."

"Gato of Gato Corporations?" Kakashi asked in awe. "He's the richest person in the elemental countries."

"Hai, he is." Tazuna said and lowered his head. "But he's also a crime lord that took control of the waterways around Wave, stopping anything he doesn't want in from getting in. The bridge is the only hope Wave has of overcoming its poverty and Gato's clutches."

"So he hires ninja to kill you." Naruto says. "But why didn't you tell Konoha of this and getting a correctly ranked mission?"

"Well, because of Gato, Wave is poor and even with our Daimyo's help, we could barely afford the C-rank mission."

"This mission is B-rank, bordering on A-rank." Sasuke said with a smirk. "Sounds fun."

"Well, then we shouldn't have been doing this mission to begin with." Kakashi said. "But we're not going to back out of it. We have a Jonin, two Chuunin and two Genin by strength. I'm sure we can handle them." _Though next with be a Jonin._ Kakashi mused to himself. "Ma, let's get going." They all followed, Tazuna feeling like a weight was lifted off of his shoulders.

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**Chapter 3 done. I always hated typing the Wave Arc...Dunno why, I like it, but I don't like to write it -.-'**

**I seem to write better when what I do has nothing to do with Canon 0.o**

**Like when they first went to Ame, I got all of that in about one day, easy. But I have trouble with the academy part and such. I even had an easy time writing Sakura's training :D**

**Well, in any case, Chapter 4 might be a bit longer since I have to type that part about Inari being a little bitch. That'll be a bit -.-' I hate doing that worse that typing the Wave Arc.**

**Fillers:**

**Yes: 0**

**No: 2**

**I'll let the vote go until after the Tsunade retrieval arc.**

**Read and Review please D:**


	4. Training and Waves

**You know, I never realized how much reviews help you write until now 0.o Thanks for them! :D**

**They're strangely Heart-warming :3**

**I'm gonna say this now, after the Wave Arc, there's going to be another Arc involving Ame (if you couldn't already guess). Though, I dunno if you could consider it an 'Arc' with how little chapters they tend to take up in Written works. I'm still figuring out ways to incorporate Kumei and Pein more.**

**Something weird, I have planned up to the one month training during Chuunin Exams, but I have hardly added Sakura at all...I didn't even plan on going through them training her 0.o**

**She'll just be a spur of the moment thing until the Finals, if she makes it that far, I forgot.  
**

**Also a note, if you haven't noticed yet, I'm not too good with fighting scenes. I think I make them too short.**

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**This fic occurs with Itachi killing his clan when Sasuke was five. Sasuke finds Naruto and they both agree to help the other.**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto or anything I take from other animes or mangas.**

**Started****: May 11, 2008**

**Worked On****: May 12, 2008**

**Finished****: May 13, 2008**

**Total Days Worked****: 3 Days**

**Start to Finish****: 3 Days**

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**Chapter 4****: Training and Waves**

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Naruto sat on a boat that was floating across the still waters. After Tazuna had spilled the beans about Gato, they followed him to a dock where a guy waited with a motor boat. They refrained from using the motor, opting for paddles to make less sound.

Naruto was currently in thought. _Gato is hiring Missing-Nin to take down Tazuna. Chances are they won't be terribly strong since Tazuna is a civilian, but...he might have gone all out just in case he hired ninja to guard him. If they're stronger than Kakashi-sensei, that's when we have to worry. Or maybe he hired a bunch of weaker, but still strong, ninja._ Naruto mentally frowned. _We're going to have to be careful. This is our first C-rank mission and it just happens to be B or A. Me and Sasuke can handle it, but Kumei and Sakura are not ready for this. We should train both of them in their elemental chakras._

"Ne, aniki," Kumei whispered, "You okay? You look like you're constipated." The nearby Sasuke sweatdropped and resisted the grin that wanted to split his face. Naruto seemed to come out of his funk.

"Ah, I'm just calculating. If Gato sends a powerful ninja or a lot of Chuunin or higher, we could be in trouble." Naruto said, focusing on his adopted sister. "I worry about you and Sakura. You're both still only Genin level and I don't want something to happen."

"Jeez," Sasuke said, shaking his head. "we're jinchuuriki for heaven's sake. I'm sure, if it comes down to it, we could call on their chakra like you did back in Ame."

"But what if we can't?" Naruto asked. "I'm going to go ahead and train them in their elemental chakras."

"Naruto." Sasuke said sternly. "You're acting very uncharacteristic of yourself right now. Remember, protecting what we value is what makes us strong. What happened to the overconfident idiot? You're not setting a very positive example for Kumei."

Naruto had the grace to look sheepish as he rubbed the back of his head. "Eheh, I must be getting old."

"You're only twelve." Kumei deadpanned. "Aniki, you have problems." Naruto growled while smirking at her.

"At least I can admit it!"

Kumei glared at Naruto. "And what does that mean, blondie?" Sasuke just sat by and watched. He poofed a bucket of popcorn and soda out of a sealing scroll he had and grinned.

"I've seen you spying on the men's onsen." Kumei blushed and Sasuke blew his soda all over Naruto.

"Hey! What the hell was that for, teme!" He yelled at the red-faced Uchiha. Sasuke was quickly failing to keep his laughs in. "Oi!"

"Shut up, will you?" The boat owned said. "Be quiet, we don't want someone hearing us. They guard these places heavily, that's why the motor's off."

Naruto harrumphed and cross his arms, glaring daggers at Sasuke. That is until a fuming Kumei brought her fist down on her brother's unsuspecting head and left a bump that Tsunade would be proud of. Naruto sat up while rubbing his head. Kumei's face was beet red and you could see the steam coming from her.

"Why the hell did you tell everyone that!?" She hissed through her teeth.

Sasuke chuckled. "Man, our little sis is a pervert." Kumei immediately switched her glare to Sasuke. "Please, imoto, the Uchiha invented the glare."

The brunette just grit her teeth. "I am not a pervert! I use it for blackmail for later use."

Naruto went into a thinking pose as the boat touched land. Kakashi, Sakura and Sasuke started to climb out. "You know, I think one time you were spying while me a Sasuke were there. Like what you saw?" He grinned.

Kumei's eyes erupted in fire. She curled her arm back and hit Naruto in the head as hard as she could with her womanly rage induced strength. Naruto launched out of the boat and crashed into a tree, breaking it in half before it started to fall on him. Luckily for him, Sasuke saved his rear.

"Is she always like this?" Tazuna asked Sasuke. He shook his head.

"Usually she's a cute little angel, but she'd a real demon when pushed over the edge. Just like all women." Unfortunately for him, Sakura heard this and gave him a good pound into the ground.

"Guys, stop playing around." Kakashi said, not even paying attention. "We need to be vigilant and pay attention to the surroundings for any incoming enemies."

"Speak for yourself, sensei." Sakura said as she led the way up the path. The men decided to follow her wordlessly while Sasuke carried Naruto's unconscious form well away from Kumei.

-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-

It was an hour later. Kumei had calmed down and Naruto had woken up. The blond had sworn to Kumei to never tell anyone under penalty of castration and he swore to himself never to piss his imoto off again. Sasuke swore he wouldn't laugh drink anything during his sibling's next argument. Sakura swore her team was screwed up to the fullest extent. Kakashi swore that Genji only had it in him for two rounds with the great Miss Kasuki, only to be proven wrong.

"Why the hell can all women hit so hard." Naruto said, rubbing his aching head. "Maybe it's just some female hormone that Tsunade managed to control for her strength." Sasuke just shrugged.

Naruto was brought back to reality when Kumei launched a kunai at a bush.

"What was that for, brat?" Tazuna asked. Kumei ignored him and went to move the bush aside. What she saw was a white rabbit that was paralyzed with fear. The kunai was planted in a tree right below the rabbit's bunny-maker tools.

_Why's the rabbit white?_ Kakashi wondered. _It's summer not winter..._ Then it hit him. "Get down!" He yelled. Everyone dove the ground, Sasuke taking Tazuna with him. A massive blade flew overhead and lodged itself into a tree. A figure appear on it. He was shirtless, wore pale gray pants and had camouflaged arm and leg warmers in the Kiri's colors. He turned around to look at the group as they stood up. When they got up he was stunned.

"What the hell are you two doing here?" He yelled, pointing at Sasuke and Naruto.

"Trying to stop you from beheading our client, apparently." Sasuke said.

Naruto stood next to Sasuke and whispered in his ear. "Who's the stripper?" Sasuke tried as hard as he could to keep his face straight.

"Naruto, that's Zabuza of the Seven Swordsmen of the Mist." Kakashi said while getting into a stance.

"Kakashi, stand down." Sasuke said. "Zabuza's not an enemy."

"The hell he isn't!" Tazuna yelled. "He tried to behead all of us."

Zabuza grabbed his sword and jumped to the ground. "You know, you two just cost me a good deal of money. Gato's got quite the deep pocket."

"Yeah well, you chose to the alliance, so it's just as much your fault as it is ours." Sasuke said.

"Gah," Naruto scoffed. "We can just kill Gato and take the money if it means that much." Just then, a shinobi with a Kiri hunter-nin mask faded in behind Zabuza. "Zabuza, watch out!" Naruto yelled.

The swordsman leaned his head to the side and looked back to see the nin. "So?" The hunter-nin removed the mask to reveal a smiling, feminine face.

"Hello, you two." Her voice was soft and innocent.

"Haku?" Sasuke asked, with a slight blush. Haku had gotten quite beautiful in the four years. The girl nodded.

"Um, what's happening?" Sakura asked. Kakashi shook his head. _That's a good question._

"Psh, we met Zabuza when we went to Ame once." Naruto said as if it was nothing. Kakashi, however, narrowed his eyes.

"And why were you in Ame, Naruto?"

Naruto regarded the copy-nin with a confused look. Sasuke answered first. "Doing a mission. Back when we were eight. We had to find some way of income and taking missions outside the village was that source."

"This is nice and all, but can we just go already?" Tazuna asked, grumpily.

"Hai." Kakashi said. They all headed towards Tazuna's house. Zabuza and Haku stayed back to chat with Naruto and Sasuke but they had to leave to find a different job after Haku convinced Zabuza that Wave needed Gato's money more than them. He reluctantly agreed. They agreed to meet again at least twice a year.

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"You know, I wonder what Gato will do since his hired help quit on him." Sakura inquired out loud. They were sitting at the table finishing up dinner. They'd been introduced to Tazuna's daughter, Tsunami and his grandson, Inari. Inari had a big problem with seeing Gato as some kind of immortal demon and everyone else as weak insignificant bugs compared to Gato.

"He will probably hire more missing-nin." Sasuke said, like it was nothing. "We'll just kill them."

"The most likely help he could get around here would be Kiri missing-nin." Kakashi said from behind his orange book. "There is little chance of him getting another Swordsman of the Mist, so we shouldn't have to worry. But, a ninja should always be prepared for anything."

"Ne, Kakashi-sensei," Naruto said. The cyclops ninja raised his eyebrow to show he was listening. "I'm going to start Sakura and Kumei on elemental chakra tomorrow. Would you mind helping with the practices for some of the chakras? Me and Sasuke only know wind and fire. We have to improvise to learn water and earth techniques."

Kakashi was intrigued. "I suppose." Though he didn't show. "I even have a few chakra papers so we don't have to do it that long and difficult way." Naruto let out a sigh. Finding someone's chakra affinity without the slips took a few hours and was very hard to decipher.

"Okay, what I figure we'll do is: First, find out their elemental chakras. Second, start them on the basic manipulation. Third, have them practice a D or C rank jutsu like bushins." Naruto said. Kakashi nodded in agreement.

"Kakashi-sensei." Sasuke said with an little emotion as he could muster. He seemed to like doing that, Naruto concluded. "I would also like to learn the basic and intermediate exercises for lightning chakra. Using our mundane methods is very inconvenient."

Kakashi eye-smiled. "Sure, I even have an affinity to lightning."

"Ne, aniki." Kumei whispered to Naruto. "What's that book that Kaka-chan has?" Kumei had been ignoring the conversation and trying to remember where she'd seen the book before. "Don't you have one hidden in your room." Everything fell silent. They all turned to look at Naruto. The males with curiosity and interest and the females in righteous female fury.

Naruto paled considerably. "Now, where would you get an idea like that?" He asked, trying to move suspicion off of himself.

Kumei deadpanned. "You read it every time we finish our evening exercises."

_Shit!_ Naruto thought. "I, uh...have an appointment!" The blond was out the door within a second.

"Appointment with what? We just got here!" Kumei grumbled.

"Never would have pegged Naruto as a pervert." Kakashi said, smiling. Sakura and Tsunami glared at the door that Naruto exited from. Sasuke sighed.

"He's not a complete pervert." He said. "Those books have relatively good stories, there's just an overabundance of perverted nonsense." He waved it off easily. He instantly felt two burning set of eyes on him.

"What was that, Sasuke-kun?" Kakashi asked with an evil glint in his eye. For once in his life, Sasuke was scared shitless for himself.

"I think my mother's calling me!" Sasuke said before jumping up.

"She's not even alive!" Kakashi yelled.

"She's calling me from the grave!" Sasuke yelled and disappeared after Naruto. Now, the girls switched their glares to the two men.

"Why'd you guys run Sasuke off?" Sakura asked in a deceptively sweet tone. Kakashi sweatdropped. _Shit, the 'Woman's Righteous Fury' is coming down upon us._

Tazuna just ignored them and took a swig of sake. But he decided to but in anyways. "Apparently he's been reading them if he knows they have a good storyline." That was plenty enough to take the woman's fury off of them even though Kakashi constantly read the book in front of everyone.

Kakashi leaned over to Tazuna and whispered in his ear. "I owe you one." The bridge builder nodded.

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Sasuke let himself next to Naruto on a tree branch in the forest. They were silent for a bit until Naruto decided to interrupt it.

"Sasuke, somethings coming." The blond kept his gaze on the crescent moon as he talked to his comrade. Sasuke didn't think much of it. "Like someone that could beat us easily." But that did disturb Sasuke a bit. Naruto's 'feelings' tended to be right, though if they were good or bad was never predictable. One time he felt something coming and it turned out to be a pig out on ramen. After that he felt something else coming and it was major gas for a week. But other times it was more serious. He'd had a feeling before they went to Ame, but they chose to ignore it.

"That can't be good." The Uchiha mumbled. "If it comes to it, we may have to use the forbidden jutsu we learned or forcefully pull on our tenants' chakra."

"I've already tried that." Naruto grumbled. "It's like trying to get water out of a well that's been frozen over."

"But that doesn't seem the case all the time." Sasuke said. "You were able to pull on Kyuubi's chakra when you and Kumei were in danger, so there's still a chance we could do it."

"I don't want to leave that to chance." Naruto said. "I'm more worried about Kumei and Sakura, though."

"Hai, so am I." Sasuke agreed. They both sat back and looked up at the sky. "You know, training them in their elements for a week or less won't make hardly any difference if they have to fight."

Naruto sighed. "I know, but it's the only thing that will settle my worry if only a bit."

"Naruto, have you ever considered that this feeling is just overprotection of our imoto and closest friend?" Sasuke suggested.

Naruto looked up in thought and placed his hand on his stomach. "Now that you say it, I think you're right. When I think about someone coming that beats us, the feeling doesn't change, but as I think of those two in trouble, it increases tenfold."

Sasuke sighed. "Glad it isn't a premonition then. Come on, let's get to bed." He said, standing up. "Don't want to be tired when we started their training. What kind of example would we set then?" He was smirking.

Naruto replied with a grin. "I suppose. But we better sneak in the window. I don't feel like receiving any righteous fury of any kind for a while after the boat ride."

"You brought it upon yourself, baka." Sasuke's smirk shifted to a smile as the two walked back to the house.

"Well, if the damned gaki could keep her trap shut on sensitive matters..." the blond grumbled.

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The next morning brought Team Seven plus Kumei to a clearing in the forest near Tazuna's house. Kakashi stood in front of the four with a smile. He held out two pieces of paper to Sakura and Kumei. "Just channel chakra into them and we'll see what happens."

Kumei's paper became soaked with water as she stared in amazement.

"Hm, water." Sasuke said, plainly. "I wonder why she could learn the earth jutsu as easy as she did."

"She probably has a slight affinity for earth with water as the dominant." Kakashi suggested. "With practice, eventually she could probably control plants like the Shodai Hokage."

"Ne, sensei, I thought that was a kekkai genkai." Naruto asked. Kakashi sighed.

"That's a common belief. His kekkai genkai was the connection to nature that he had." The copy-nin began. "That connection allowed him to convert his chakra into life force and _grow_ the plants. Kumei might learn to control them only."

"Ah, I see." The blond said with a grin. "Too bad she doesn't have the Shodai's kekkai genkai then. She'd be a force to be reckoned with."

Now they all turned to look at the, so far, silent kunoichi. Sakura's paper had been soaked as well, but Naruto and Sasuke both noticed an oddity, they couldn't tell if Kakashi noticed it. One half had darkened and the other had lightened. They talked to each other out of ear shot.

"That must be because of her being the Oni-Tenshi Denrei." Naruto whispered.

"I agree." Replied the Uchiha. "Since Demons are usually considered dark and Angels are considered light, she's probably a middle. A neutral."

"I wonder if she has an extra chakra source." Naruto suggested, though he doubted it since she didn't have something sealed into her like the boys did.

"Two waters." Kakashi said out loud to no one in particular. "Even better, then, we don't have to teach multiple manipulations."

"Ne, you still have to teach me Raiton, sensei." Sasuke said, staring at the taller man.

Kakashi sighed. "Ruined the highlight of my day." In an instant the sudden dreariness he'd been producing disappeared. "let's get started, shall well?" He said with a large eye-smile. Truthfully, he was proud of how far his students had come, even if he didn't do much to help.

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Sakura and Kumei stood in front of Kakashi near a river. He was holding an eye dropper, that he'd seemingly pulled out of his ass, filled with water. He held out his hand and let a single drop fall. "To begin learning to control water, you have to learn the flow of it. How it feels. Like lightning is quick and deadly, water is calm and soothing. Focus on that and, if needed, go to the river to feel it physically. The practice is to be able to morph the water droplet in your hand. Since, I don't have a water affinity I can't show you."

"Ne, I can Kakashi-sensei!" Naruto said, excited. He remembered doing a bastardized version of this. It was all the same, except Naruto had been trying and trying to move the amount of water in an entire bowl. Needless to say, it took his a few months, even with all of his clones, to get it to move. Kakashi raised his eyebrow but wordlessly let a drop fall into Naruto's palm.

In an instant, the water started to move around like a little critter. It would flatten itself, stand up straight and even form into cubes, pyramids, and other shapes. Naruto was grinning like a child at Christmas. "This is fun. Water flows calmly and soothingly, but when the conditions are right, it can be rapid and harsh. You have to learn to feel both of these with your chakras and learn to switch between them or you'll never get it."

"Don't worry if you can't get it either." Kakashi butted in. "It takes most ninja a year or so to learn it, though, starting at such a young age, I don't know what kind of effect that would have. In any case, don't expect to learn it before a year is over. The chances are slim of it happening."

"But, then again." Sasuke interfered. "Naruto is the most unpredictable ninja in Konoha, possible the world, and if he wants them to, he can make them learn faster with his unique form of motivation."

"Unique form of motivation?" Kakashi inquired. "Do I want to know what you mean?"

Sasuke smirked. "It's not like that, ero-sensei. Naruto has the ability to change people. He can be a great inspiration at any time." just then they heard a splash and looked to see Naruto floating in the water, soaked. "Most of the time." Sasuke corrected himself.

"Well, then, why don't you two get started. It would have been easier to learn if we had someone with a direct affinity to water to give you hints, but you can work it along." The perverted ninja handed the eye dropper to Sakura and turned to Sasuke with an eye-smile. "Now, let's start on lightning." He held his hand up with his middle finger and thumb touching. "Lightning is similar to fire, yet different. Lightning is hotter and much faster than fire, but it is focused on usually one spot. The basic training method is to create friction with your fingers and learn to form that small amount into something similar to static shock." Kakashi rubbed his fingers together and spread them away from each other. There was a constant stream of lightning that connected the two. "See? As you get more experienced, you'll be able to change and adjust it's shape a bit. But, because of it's nature, if you try to bend it farther than it allows, it'll backfire, like so." Kakashi faced his hand away from the two and Sasuke watched as the lightning stream bent in the middle away form Kakashi. It only moved about half an inch before it flashed and disappeared. Kakashi's two fingers were now burnt and numb from the shock.

"I see." Sasuke said. "What of the intermediate training?"

"I think the advanced training would be more fitting for you, it is very impossible to do often." Kakashi's eye-smiled creeped Sasuke out a bit. "The middle exercise is to create the lightning away from your hand and in a higher amount. Like a ball of lightning floating in your hand." Kakashi held out his hand and formed a ball of lightning in his hand. "This isn't good for an attack since it would just be a small shock, but it will help you learn it. Now, since I already mentioned it, I'll tell you the advanced form that would fit you best. During a thunderstorm, you have to find a high point and use your chakra to pull the lightning to you. This requires the use of no chakra as all you do is charge it opposite that of the sky's. It would be very helpful if you were out of chakra and in a storm. What you have to do is call the lightning to your upheld fingers and direct it through your body and out of your other hand in a straight bolt. I'd recommend not trying this for a while since you could fry your organs if you don't do it right."

Sasuke nodded and grinned. "Sounds like fun. I'll have to try that sometime." The boy jumped into a tree and sat on a limb. He held his hand in front of him and started attempting the exercise.

Kakashi turned his attention to the now dry Naruto. He knew Sasuke would get the exercise down faster than the girls, but it would still take a while. What Kakashi didn't know, was that Sasuke created a bunch of clones away in the forest to practice the technique themselves. "Hey, Naruto, I was wondering why you already learned both of your prime elements."

Naruto grinned sheepishly. "At first, I learned and such, but since I couldn't create a wind clone without complete mastery, I switched to whatever felt the next most comfortable, which was water. It was really just to learn a clone jutsu but it turned out better."

"I see." Kakashi said. No matter how much he thought he saw it all, Naruto and Sasuke would continue to surprise and confuse him. That mixed with making him proud and slightly fearful of their fast advances. "Do you have anything to learn while they're taking their time learning their elements?"

Naruto moved his hand to his chin to think, it always helped for some reason. "Well, do you know any close range wind or water jutsu? Most of mine are large and mid to long range, aside from my wind blade."

Kakashi smiled, glad he could be of help to his student. "I have a few. One could come in handy when tied up, you can expel chakra-laden wind out of your mouth. It can be sued as blunt force or you can add the slicing effect of the element. For water, I have one that will help you start to learn to combine your elements. It is ice weapons. Since I'm fire and lightning centered, I couldn't learn the technique, but my Sharingan copied the idea and chakra molding back when I was in Snow Country on a mission.

"Thanks Kakashi-sensei!" Naruto grinned.

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By the end of the week Sakura and Kumei had managed to start pushing the water droplets. It wasn't much to them, but overall it was quick progress. Sasuke could make the static shock part with his lightning but it wouldn't stay. Naruto, on the other hand, had mastered the Fuuton: Kaze Ba-Suto no Jutsu(Wind Style: Wind Burst Jutsu). He was shaky with ice, unfortunately, and could barely form it let alone keep it from melting.

The real highlight of the week was their confrontation with Inari.

_**Flashback no Jutsu!**_

_Everyone was sitting at the table, eating in silence. It was a simple meal since Wave couldn't afford any real food because of Gato. It was, however, interrupted by the grandson of the bridge builder, Inari._

_The boy slammed his hand down on the table. "Why do you keep trying!?" He yelled in exasperation. "You're just going to die!"_

_Naruto tried to ignore his loud voice. "Trust me kid, I've seen worse. Stop being a baby and stand up for this country instead of grovel at the fat man's feet."_

_Inari growled. "What do you know!? Living your life as a ninja. You don't know what it's like to suffer!" That set Naruto over the edge and Inari was met with the mortifying sight of two blood red eyes with slits. Kakashi grabbed a kunai just in case Naruto attacked the boy. _This could get bad.

_Naruto stood to his full height and glared down at the small boy. The killing intent he was flinging around was making everyone, save for Kakashi and Sasuke, shiver and have a hard time breathing. Inari just about wet himself. "Suffering?" Naruto said with a low growl. His continued to rise, though. "Suffering!? You don't know suffering little boy!" Naruto growled out. "Do you know how many assassination attempts I've had on my life? How harsh I was beaten every week when I couldn't escape? I had _four hundred and seventy-three_ assassination attempts on me in the first eight years of my life! And quite a few of those almost succeeded too. I was also beaten nearly to death at least twice a week until I was seven and could defend myself." Naruto shook his head and returned his glare to the boy. "And you lost your father to Gato? Guess what, Sasuke lost his entire family to his own brother! There are people out there with worse lives than you! And we don't sit down and cry about it! We fight it!" Naruto stood and disappeared. The killing intent was gone and everyone could breath again._

_Tsunami turned to Kakashi. "Was his life really that bad?" She asked, hoping he responded in the negative._

_Kakashi sighed. "No, it was worse. That was the sugarcoated version. Naruto's had more harsh times in his life than our own Hokage." Inari chose that moment to storm out of the room, tears flowing._

_Tsunami and Sakura both let a tear fall down their face. Sakura let a few more follow, though. _Poor Naruto._ She thought. Kumei just hung her head. She'd head about the kind of stuff that happened to her aniki, but she never thought it was that bad._

"_How did a boy like him stay so pure and happy after all of that?" Tazuna asked. His respect for the boy has sky rocketed._

"_His happiness is mostly a mask." Sasuke said, a bit shaken from the killing intent Naruto has put off. "He's hardly ever actually that happy. The only times he's really happy is when he's spending time within our adopted family and with our team."_

"_But, why didn't anyone help him?" Tsunami asked, almost begged._

"_Because," Kakashi said. "Everyone hated him. The only person he ever had to care for him was the Hokage until he met Sasuke when they were five and the Iruka at the academy when they were eight."_

_Sakura sniffled. "After he's gone through that...How could anyone remain sane?" She questioned out loud. "Let alone still want to become Hokage and protect all of them?"_

_Kakashi sighed again. He seemed to be doing that a lot lately. "Naruto's will and desire to protect his friends is the strongest force I've seen in this world. He'd throw away his own life to protect anyone close to him."_

_Sasuke decided to tell them about the time in Ame. "His strength shoots beyond human limits when his friends are in danger too." Everyone looked at him. "When we went on one of our missions when we were eight, we had to kill everyone in a gang and save some prisoners. It was then that we met Kumei. We'd started to fight with the head guy but he spewed oil everywhere and lit the whole damn place on fire." The prisoners were being escorted outside. They all made it except Kumei, she tripped and was stuck in the basement with everything around her burning." Sasuke glanced at Kumei to see tears running down her face. "Naruto pushed himself and covered her as everything came crashing down on them. He held it up with just his arms and legs. I remember he told me that his back was on fire and the slats of wood that stuck clean through his body were paining him to no ends. Kumei was completely unharmed. He was holding at least half a ton of wood on his four limbs. With his iron will and amazing strength he seemed to pull out of nowhere, he came rocketing out of the pile, sending wood everywhere and just adding more to his own injuries." By now, everyone was shocked, except Kumei. "He spent his last waking moment getting Kumei to safety before he completely passed out."_

_Kumei sniffled. "I owe my aniki my life." She said, tears still flowing. "His chakra was burning a bright red. It was amazing that he'd go through all of that just to save me, a girl he'd barely met."_

"_You'd be surprised what Naruto would do for complete strangers." Sasuke said._

_Kakashi's eyes narrowed unnoticeable. _Kyuubi's chakra? That would be the only way. The seal can't be broken because that was four years ago and he's fine. Maybe he can wield the chakra himself._ Kakashi got up and went up the stairs without a word. He approached Inari's room where he heard a few sniffles. He entered and sat down next to the small boy on the bed. He had a picture in his hands of Kaiza, his father in all but blood. Kakashi just waited until the boy was okay to talk._

"_Did he really go through all of that?" He asked. Kakashi nodded._

"_Hai, he's been shunned his entire life. But, he never cries. At one point, he realized it got him nowhere and he decided to fix the problem by making himself stronger so that people would respect him." The copy-nin stood up and left so Inari could think about it alone._

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_Out in the woods Naruto was standing in a clearing, panting heavily. All of ground around him was torn up. Trees were destroyed all over and his blood stained the bark from where he continuously punched them. "Damn brat." He muttered before straightening up and calming himself. _Better go apologize to the gaki._ He wiped of imaginary dust and walked at a leisurely pace back to the house._

_Naruto approached the house when he sensed the boy out on the dock. He looked over to see the moonlight reflecting off of the water, revealing the silhouette of Inari. He exhaled and approached the boy. He didn't bother to mask his steps. Inari glanced back to see him and turned back around, stubbornly._

"_Come to make fun of me?" He asked, bluntly. Naruto sat next to him on the dock and looked over the water, not answering his question._

"_You know, feeling sorry for yourself won't fix anything." Naruto said, all of a sudden. "You may have lost your father, but you still have your mother and grandfather. You should protect them while you can, and never back down." Naruto waited a bit to take in the silence before standing up. "I ask you this, are you going to be a coward and just run away, or are you going to be a hero and stand up for yourself and this country?" The blond stood there waiting his answer._

_Inari, on the other hand, was in tumult. His mind swirled with visions of his father as Naruto said things that were so similar. "I...I don't know." Naruto shook his head sadly._

"_Well, you better decide before it's too late to do anything." He turned and disappeared in a fine mist. Inari sat on the bridge and gazed across the water. _Could I really make a difference? Is it worth it to sacrifice your life for those you love?_ The boy continued to think before he would later get tired and head home to sleep._

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_Naruto approached the house when a voice stopped him._

"_Wow, Naruto." Kakashi said from the roof, reading his orange book. "You've matured a lot since you were that little seven year old kid I was assigned to guard." Naruto smiled softly at his sensei._

"_It comes with experience." The blond replied before sitting next to the cyclops. "I just couldn't stand to sit by and watch him throw his life away without a care to himself or his family."_

"_Though, I don't approve of your...methods, it certainly had an impact on the boy." Kakashi closed his eyes._

"_Sensei," Naruto began, his voice low and mature. "when I first joined this team, I figured me and Sasuke would have problems with you guys. But now...I see you guys as the siblings I never had." Kakashi was a bit shocked at this. He'd never had any siblings, Obito was the closest thing he ever had to one, and that wasn't for long. "Sakura is the eager younger sister, even though she'd older. Kumei is the little sister that's a devil in disguise and tries to get under my skin. Sasuke is the brother that helps me through everything and stands by my side. And you, you're the big brother that provides life lessons and things kids wouldn't learn themselves, even if you are a pervert."_

_Kakashi smiled. "I'm glad you see me like that because I'm come to see you guys as little siblings that I can pick on at times." Naruto scoffed._

"_Please, sensei, I have Kumei picking on me enough." He said with a grin, "I don't need more on my plate." They both sat in comfortable silence for a while. It was peaceful and they watched as Inari entered the house to go to bed._

"_Hey, Naruto." Kakashi said._

"_Huh?" He inquired, looking over to him._

"_When do you plan to tell Sakura and Kumei?" The white-haired nin stared off into space and Naruto tensed slightly._

"_I'll tell Sakura when her own secret is revealed." Naruto responded. "As for Kumei, she already knows but I forbid her from mentioning it in any conversations."_

_Kakashi nodded but was confused. "And what secret does Miss Haruno have?"_

_Naruto chuckled. "Gomen, sensei, I can't tell you that. Oji-san told me and Sasuke to wait until it comes out before we tell you and her anything. But it does tie directly into why she was placed on this team."_

_Kakashi sighed. He wanted to press the issue, but if the Hokage had told the boy not to tell, he wasn't going to tell...period. "Be that as it may. As long as it won't put the team in danger or in disrepair." Naruto shook his head and smiled._

"_Nothing like that, nii-san."_

_**Flashback Ending no Jutsu!**_

They were currently heading towards the bridge for another day. Naruto wasn't with them, he said he need to master his ice technique and was out the whole night. He was out with chakra exhaustion.

Kakashi and team arrived at the bridge to see every single worker tied up to a tree as close to the bridge as the trees grew. "What?" Tazuna gasps before running to the closest one. "Gaichi, what happened?"

Gaichi looked up. "Two people came and started to knock people out. We don't know if they hurt or killed anyone." Tazuna nodded.

Kakashi's gaze hardened. "Sakura, Kumei, stay by Tazuna-san."

"Well, well, if it isn't Kakashi Hatake." A voice said from the light mist over the bridge. Everyone looked to see two figures walk out. The taller one had on a light blue and white camouflaged muscle shirt with a pastel sky blue pair of pants that were taped down into his zoris. His headband marked him as a Kiri Missing-nin. His light blue hair stuck up like Kakashi's but curved downwards towards the top. He had a sword on his back that had a spike sticking out every few inches that grew wider as it reached the end(Renji's sword in Bleach).

"Kinsuke Saiga of the Seven Swordsmen of the Mist." Kakashi muttered as he raised his headband. _What are the chances? _He glanced over to the second figure. His headband marked him as a Suna Missing-nin. He wore a black muscle shirt and black shorts with a single red stripe on each side. He had on black zoris and had long black hair that fell to his waist in a ponytail. His eyes were a strange green, not all that different from Kumei's. "I'm afraid I don't recognize your friend."

Said nin just smiled lazily and bowed extravagantly. "My name is Bokura Takara and I'll be serving the main course today. Of harsh reality." His voice was clam and held no malice, but his gaze was focused on Sasuke. "Hello there, Uchiha. Too bad your blond friend isn't here, I was hoping to fight both of you." He pouted. Everyone sweatdropped. "Let's get started!" He said with a carefree grin while motioning to Sasuke to head off to flat land. He followed and Kakashi turned to the swordsman and prepared a kunai. _This will be a rough battle._

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Back at the house Naruto was woken up by sounds of crashing from downstairs. _What the hell? Someone wants an ass kicking. _He grabbed his zoris before creeping downstairs. When he reached the stairs, he peeked around to find no one. He hurried outside to follow the tracks, though he didn't need to when he saw four figures on the dock by a boat.

Over at the dock, two thugs had broken into the house and taken Tsunami. They had dragged her to the dock but the boy had been annoying them. "I'm gonna kill this brat." The tall, shirtless one, with the eye patch, said.

"Don't leave me out." The smaller one with a hoody on grinned and licked his blade. He knocked a screaming Tsunami unconscious and they both charged the boy. Inari was terrified but he stood his ground. Luckily for him, two fists found their way to the thugs' stomachs.

"It's not nice to pick on women and children." Naruto said as the men fell unconscious from the blow. Naruto turned to Inari with a smile. "Good job Inari, you stood up to them and distracted them so I could save you and your mother." _Not that I needed it._ He thought. "Heroes always show up at the last moment, right?" Naruto grinned.

Inari smiled up and tried to stop his tears. He turned away but Naruto placed his hand on the boy's shoulder. "You're just going to make fun of me for crying." He said.

Naruto let out a laugh. "It's okay to cry when you're happy. Now, I have to go help my team at the bridge. Take care of your mother, okay?"

"Hai, I will Naruto-nii-san!" Inari yelled as the blond jumped off the dock and into the forest. Inari turned back to his mother's bound form and noticed that the two thugs were gone and he now had a kunai in his hand. _He's amazing._ He thought. He walked over to Tsunami and cut the bindings with a smile. _Don't worry Naruto-nii-san, I'll get the people of the town and we'll all come and help!_

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**Gawd, am I glad that's over...**

**The part I hate the most about writing Naruto fanfics.**

**Fillers:**

**YES: 0**

**NO: 4**

**Chances are, I won't do the fillers anyways. I'm going to go ahead and close the vote since most seem to dislike them. The first movie is a debate, though. It all depends on how I feel when I get there. Most likely, I'll be lazy and skip over it.**

**Read and Review! **


	5. Battle of the Bridge

**The battles come and I get to try my hand at a true battle scenario! Woot!**

**I'm going to go ahead and say there most likely will be characters death. But if it happens, it might not be until Shippuden.**

**I'm going to start adding descriptions of my own jutsu at the ending A/N. And I use a lot in this chapter **

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**Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto or anything I take from other animes or mangas.**

**Started****: May 14, 2008**

**Worked On****: N/A**

**Finished****: May 16, 2008**

**Total Days Worked****: 2 Days**

**Start to Finish****: 3 Days**

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**Chapter 5****: Battle of the Bridge**

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Sasuke stared into the calm and calculating eyes of his opponent. They'd left the bridge a few minutes ago and now stood facing each other in a clearing. His opponent, Bokura Takara, didn't seem to be doing anything but standing there. It was grating on the Uchiha's nerves.

"Well, are we going to begin?" Sasuke asked. Bokura shrugged.

"If you want." Was his simple reply. He let a small, harmless, smile show up. "I've been wanting to fight you and the blond for a while."

"And why is that?" Sasuke asked, tensing his legs to jump. "Because we're so powerful and yet only Genin?"

Bokura tilted his head to the side. "I suppose that could be part of it. But, my reasons are best kept hidden until I can talk to you two without being in a death match."

"You're fighting us now, so why wouldn't we fight you later?" Sasuke said in an arrogant tone, trying to throw his long-haired opponent off. Sasuke launched a kunai at Bokura before charging. The green-eyed nin moved his head to the side and caught the first that Sasuke threw at this face before bringing his other arm up to block a roundhouse kick from the right. Sasuke took this chance to bring his fist in for a blow to the gut while his opponent's hands were occupied.

The Uchiha's fist met with the ex-Suna-nin's knee before the leg extend and kicked Sasuke away. _Fast._ Sasuke thought as he flipped backwards and landed on his feet. "You're good."

"I could say the same for you." Bokura responded. He pulled out a kunai and flicked it lazily at Sasuke. Sasuke blocked the kunai with his own, only to stare in surprise when his kunai was sliced in half, causing him to duck, losing a few hairs.

Sasuke growled. "Wind chakra." He knew of the slicing winds from the many times he'd sparred with Naruto. If that kunai had hit him, he'd be missing his head at the moment.

"So you know of it?" Bokura asked. "I shouldn't be surprised, are the blond uses it, just not as often." The man sped through five hand seals as he inhaled a deep breathe. He held his index and middle finger right in front of his mouth and blew out. "Fuuton: Kaze Ba-Suto no Jutsu!(Wind Style: Wind Burst Jutsu)" He managed to growl as the wind escape his mouth and followed his fingers towards Sasuke's form.

Sasuke dove out of the way, already starting on his own hand signs. Forgoing the placement of the hand at the mouth, Sasuke spewed out a stream of flames. "Katon: Endan!(Fire Style: Fireball)" The fire barreled towards the unmoving form of Bokura. The man was consumed by the flames. Sasuke stopped the flamethrower and looked at the space where the man had been. Seeing the ashes of what was a log, the Uchiha launched himself into the air to avoid the Wind Burst coming from behind. Sasuke smirked and with a quick spin, flung four shuriken towards the Takara.

Bokura was caught off guard as the shuriken bypassed him and circled around, binding him to the tree. "Katon: Ryuuka no Jutsu!(Dragon Fire Jutsu)" Fire spew from Sasuke's mouth down the wires to crash into Bokura's body. Once again, the man was roasted. This time, his body fell into a pile of earth. "Tsuchi Bushin(Earth Clone)!" Sasuke cursed.

"Nice." A voice said from the trees. Sasuke turned to see the same annoying man, but this time he'd lost the bottom half of his armless shirt. "Almost got me there. Katon: Housenka no Jutsu(Mythical Fire Phoenix Jutsu)!" The man shot ten separate fireballs out of his mouth at Sasuke without even doing hand signs.

_No hand signs!?_ Sasuke exclaimed in his mind. _No, he just did them before he garnered my attention. I'll have to use one of my few Doton techniques._ Sasuke flipped through some seals before his hands collided with the ground, causing a large slab to rise in defense. "Doton: Doro Gaeshi no Jutsu(Earth Style: Mud Overturn Jutsu)!" The fireballs crashed into the earthen wall and fell apart. Bokura jumped form his position on the tree and watched at the wall crumbled.

Before the wall touched the ground, Sasuke was already through with his hand signs as he blew through a loop in his fingers. _Katon: Goukakyuu no Jutsu!_ The massive fireball was much larger than the ones Naruto had used against Mizuki. Sasuke wanted the fire to go fast enough so the man couldn't run and be powerful enough to damage him. Bokura just smiled and flipped through hand signs behind his back. There was no way he was going to let the Sharingan copy his own custom move.

"Fuuton: Kaze Shi-Rudo no Jutsu(Wind Style: Wind Shield Jutsu)!" Bokura's hands ended with both arms parallel to the ground and with his pinkies and index fingers pointing up from his clasped hands. Wind came to life around him and swirled in a large sphere, not unlike a certain Hyuuga technique.

Normally fire would overpower wind and win, especially with the amount of chakra that Sasuke had added in, but the wind shield was spinning at a high enough speed to absorb the fire and turn into a flaming sphere. Bokura could feel the heat against his skin and released his jutsu without care. The still ignited winds flew in every direction.

Sasuke's eyes widened and his raised both of his arms, not having time to perform a defensive jutsu, to await the wave of fire.

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Kakashi was staring at the Swordsman of the Mist with his Sharingan open and blazing. "Well, well, who would have thought Gato would have attained a second Mist Swordsmen to replace the one that left him a week ago."

Kinsuke just kept his emotionless gaze on the copy-nin's face. He knew of the Sharingan and it's hypnotizing abilities, but he didn't care. He fought with his sword and sword-based jutsu so that the copy-nin couldn't suggest that he use other techniques and he would just ignore any images he tried to create to freak him out. He'd fought plenty of Uchiha in his time, before they were wiped out.

Kakashi felt a bead of sweat roll down his face. Kinsuke was a step above Zabuza and was known for his stoic personality. Then man showed no emotion in battle and hardly any outside of it. He was hardened from fighting many Uchiha so he decided to forgo the usual mind suggestions.

"Kirigakure no Jutsu(Hidden Mist Jutsu)." The man said, without a care in the world. But his eyes spoke volumes and blared as if saying that his life mission was to eliminate Kakashi. A thick mist coalesced over the bridge, blocking the site of anyone and everyone. Kakashi was thankful that Kinsuke was not one for the silent killing technique, like Zabuza would have been. "Extend."

The voice traveled through the mist and reached Kakashi just before the blade that Kinsuke held was flying towards him. His eyes widened and he ducked, placing his hand on the ground and forcing his leg up to kick the sword. He looked to see that it was separated above each small blade by an elastic substance. _This could get dangerous._ Kakashi thought. The man's sword could extend itself for quite a distance for a hand held weapon. The last reported maximum length was twenty-five yards. Kakashi hoped that the man hadn't, somehow, extended that max.

The copy-nin rolled to the side at the sword crashed into his previous position and ripped back, tearing large gashes in the concrete. Kakashi sped through hand signs and expelled water from his mouth in a stream. "Suiton: Mizu Funsha no Jutsu(Water Style: Water Jet Jutsu)!" He covered all of the bridge in front of him before he cut the stream. He released a burst of chakra that pushed away the mist and slammed his hand on the ground. "Raiton: Denryuu(Lightning Style: Electric Current)!" Lightning sprung from Kakashi's hand and latched onto the nearby water and zapped anything within.

Kakashi pulled his hand back and pulled out two kunai to block before the large sword hit him from behind. He tried to hold the blade back and partially succeeded. The last spike was hanging over the pervert's left shoulder. The mist cleared to reveal a perfectly fine Kinsuke holding the sword. Kakashi failed to notice the slight frizz of his hair. The swordsman gave the blade a yank and the spike dug into into Kakashi's shoulder, tearing the muscle. Kakashi's left arm was rendered almost useless.

_Shit!_ Kakashi shouted mentally before he jumped away from the blade. _I let him get in and hit me. He has a better advantage now._ Kakashi then started to notice the man's jerky, if barely perceptible, movements. The lightning must have grazed the missing-nin before he'd escaped. Kakashi could use this to his advantage, but the copy-nin knew if he moved his left arm for jutsu, the blood would rush from his wound and the pain would make his own movements jerky.

Kakashi sprinted off and swung under the incoming blade. He placed his good hand on the ground and kicked up at the blade. The sword flung up and Kakashi used this chance to spin on his hand and kick Kinsuke in the face.

The swordsman recoiled and brought his blade forward to block the kunai slash that would have disemboweled him. He flipped the blade around and landed the dull end against the copy-nin's arm He watched as Kakashi poofed away in a cloud of smoke. He raised an eyebrow, the most emotion he'd shown the whole fight. The Leaf Ninja was planning something.

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The heat of the raging firewall suddenly disappeared. Sasuke looked up to see Naruto behind a Water Encampment Wall Jutsu. The blond looked back and grinned. "Miss me?"

Sasuke scoffed. "You wish." He jumped to his feet and pulled out a couple of kunai. "Let's go." Naruto dropped the water wall and charged the slightly disorientated missing-nin. Sasuke swung around the side for a pincer movement. Two kunai found their mark in Bokura's ribcage while the following two implanted in his neck. Until he fell into a pile of dirt. Both boys jumped away from the pile in opposite directions.

A whisper carried on the wind. "Kaze Shunshin(Wind Body Flicker)!" A foot connected with Sasuke's back that sent him flying forward. Naruto watched the long-haired man disappear in a swirl of wind as the Uchiha flipped to land on his feet. They placed themselves back to back and searched all around.

In a swirl, Bokura appeared a couple yards away, spinning. "Fuuton: Fo-Su(Wind Style: Force)!" A solid wave of wind knocked both boys off their feet, into the air.

Bokura stopped his spin and tilted his head like a curious puppy. "I thought this would be fun, what with the Kyuubi and Tenshi(Angel) jinchuuriki." Instantly, boy boys' heads snapped to focus on Bokura. "Can't you like use their powers or something to give you a better chance of not dying?" He said in a bored voice while picking something out of his ear.

Sasuke and Naruto landed on the ground and snarled. Naruto flipped through a few hand seals. "Trust me, if we could do it willingly, you'd be dead." Naruto bent his head back and puffed his cheeks out. "Suiton: Mizu Daifunsha no Jutsu(Water Style: Great Water Jet Jutsu)!" Naruto exhaled and a stream of water blasted out of his mouth at high speeds. Bokura had not time to react and was struck with the jet. The green-eyed man crashed into a tree with a loud crack, signifying that the tree had broken. The tree fell over and Bokura crashed into the one behind it before Naruto stopped his technique, out of breath.

"Hell..." Bokura whined as he flipped over on his stomach. "What a bitch of a move." He mumbled, but the Leaf nin still heard it. Bokura managed to push himself to his feet and turned to his opponents with a completely schooled expression. His muscle shirt was torn to shreds and all that remained was the neck and arm holes. His chest was exposed, showing a very light six pack. He wasn't ripped but he wasn't a toothpick either. "Time to get serious." Bokura closed his eyes and began doing hand seals with each hand.

"Single-handed hand seals!?" Naruto exclaimed.

"Two at once?" Sasuke had at least heard of single-handed hand signs. He never thought he'd meet someone who could do it, let alone two at once. The man's eyes were closed in concentration and he finished both jutsu. His left arm swung in a wide arc like the Fo-Su no Jutsu and his right hand made a circle by his mouth. Fire erupted form his mouth and the wind from his hand increased the heat and speed, turning it white. "Shiroi Katon: Daihinami no Jutsu(White Fire Style: Great Fire Wave)!" The mass of white fire crashed into the two boys. Bokura waited, breathing heavily, as the smoke and flames cleared. It revealed a large wall of water, but the boys behind it had not escaped harm.

Sasuke grunted as he grabbed his right arm. It had been burnt and was useless unless he wanted pain rippling through his body. His shirt was half burnt so he ripped the other half off. Naruto's hands were skinless on the palms, where he'd held them out to form the water wall and his sleeves were gone in flames. Both of their faces seemed to glow a dim red, signs of a small sunburn.

"Son of a..." Naruto grunted. "How the hell can you do two jutsu at once?"

Bokura smiled at the question. Though it wasn't meant to be answered, he decided to anyways. "It took me quite a while to figure it out. The first step was to find the way to mold the chakra with one hand instead of two. This takes twice as long as using two but it's worth it if you have the speed. The second step was slowly going over the two jutsu together over and over. The third was the same was the second but with chakra. I increased the speed overall and finally managed it after six months of effort." Bokura grinned. "It's sort of my own secret jutsu, but I have to restart the effort for every combination. I only know two at the moment." The man eyed the Uchiha before frowning. "I suppose using your Sharingan to cheat would decrease the learning time for you, if you survive, but your doujutsu can only focus on one technique at a time."

Sasuke cursed. He never knew of that certain handicap. Truthfully, he'd only learn the fire part of it, the Katon: Hinagare(Fire Style: Fire Stream).

Bokura frowned once more when he noticed that Sasuke's eyes now both held three tomoe. When they'd started the fight, there was a two in each. Now, the boy could successfully predict his movements. He had to eliminate him if he wanted a chance of winning. "Kaze Shunshin." He whispered as he disappeared in a swirl of wind.

Sasuke, in realization, whipped around to look behind only for Bokura's hand to grab his neck. Something pierced his neck and he felt the world fading. Bokura had predicted that he'd turn around and so he appeared where he'd been facing and did something to his neck. Sasuke figured his Carotid artery had been cut, as his life was fading.

Naruto watched in horror as his best friend and brother in all but blood fell to the ground, lifeless. Bokura was gone before the body hit and the blond rushed over to him. Naruto's eyes were wide with fear as he held his partner's limp body. He subconsciously reached up to close Sasuke's eyes as tears fell from his own. The clear tears turned blood red and red chakra erupted from Naruto's body. He threw his head back and screamed.

Bokura's eyes widened and he learned what true fear was. He was rooted to the spot as the red chakra swirled around the blond boy. _I've got to leave!_ He screamed in his mind. He turned and tried to jump when a red fist smashed into his face, forcing him back harder than the Grand Water Jet had. Bokura crashed through two trees and cracked the third before stopping. His eyes shot open, unfocused as blood flew from his mouth.

Naruto stared at his opponent with fury unmatched by even the Kyuubi. Though, that's because the fox has no reason to become that angry. He pulled in a huge breath as his chest expanded to four times what it should be able to before expelling in straight at Bokura. The resulting blast was beyond any of the wind moves that had been performed earlier. The compacted air hit the ex-Suna nin and leveled a thirty foot wide area of trees that headed towards the bridge. Bokura had blood coming form his ears from the sound waves that had mixed in.

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Kinsuke gasped in pain as seven different dogs erupted from the bridge and bit onto him. They bit both arms, making them useless. Kakashi stood in front him with his right arm blazing with electricity. "Chidori(Thousand Birds)!" He pulled his arm back and started to charge the Missing-nin when a sudden blast of chakra stopped him dead in his place. He knew that chakra. His Chidori died out and the nin dogs poofed out of existence.

Kinsuke, himself, froze in place at the chakra, fear clearly showing on his face. The chakra that he felt was massive and very evil. He knew that he'd be completely beaten if he went up against that. "Forget this, Kakashi. I know when I'm beat." The Missing-nin turned and leap away into the forest, sword still clasped in his limp arm.

Kakashi was shaking. _Did the seal break?_ He asked himself. _No, he used the chakra before. There's no way he could draw it on his own. Something must have happened...Sasuke!_ Kakashi's eyes widened as part of the forest was blown into the river as compacted air blasted out.

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Sakura was standing in front of Tazuna when she felt the malicious chakra. "Oh god." She said, before the mixed killing intent forced her to heave her lunch all over the ground. Tazuna and all of the civilians fell unconscious from the pressure. Kumei's eyes widened a bit in recognition and fear. _No._ "Aniki!" She shouted. The brunette launched herself into the trees, running towards the massive eruption of power, ignoring Sakura's plea to stop.

It took her four minutes to catch up, just in time to see the red covered Naruto expel his breath. She watched in amazement as the forest was literally ripped to shreds and a body was hurled through the air. She felt more than saw Kakashi land next to her and they both watched.

"What caused this!?" Kumei asked, tears streaming down her face.

Kakashi's eyes widened when he saw his student's lifeless body on the ground. "Sasuke!" Kumei's attention turned to where he'd pointed and her eyes became dinner plates.

"Nii-san!" She couldn't make herself move, nor could Kakashi, as the chakra pressed down on them.

It only took her a minute, but Kumei's childish determination allowed her to leap from the branch towards her raging brother.

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Bokura's senses were in chaos. His body ached all over and he couldn't hear anything. The only reason he wasn't dead was because of a thin barrier of wind covered his body, Fuuton: U**wadzutsumi no Jutsu(Wind Style: Cover (Envelop) Jutsu).**

**Naruto was about at attack again when two small arms wrapped around him and a voice reached his ears. "Aniki, stop!" It cried. The boy whipped his head around, trying to determine what had halted his revenge when he saw Kumei clamped onto him. A flash of recognition flew across his eyes. The girl cried out in pain as the chakra burnt her and Naruto's eyes widened. He immediately cut the chakra off and hugged hi little sister.**

**"****Sorry, imoto." He said. The girl just continued to cry into his chest.**

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Sasuke felt like he weighed nothing. His body was floating in a deep black space. He was all that existed. _Am I dead?_ He thought. His mind was numb from the shock of death and he couldn't comprehend the illogical situation he was in.

_I can't be dead. There's still so much I have left to do._ He said to himself, his thoughts echoing in the black emptiness. _I still have to kill Itachi. I have to help Naruto become Hokage. I have to restore my clan. And...I have to protect my friends and family...But I...can't._

The Uchiha floated in the darkness for who knows how long. It was quiet and peaceful, a type that you couldn't fully achieve in real life. But it was an empty peace without anyone around. It was...lonely.

Then a voice, that wasn't his, echoed around the room, fading in and out. "Anik...op!"

"rry..imo..."

"Who?" Sasuke tried to ask, only for it to be another echoing thought. A white mist came from nowhere and started to surround his body. It felt warm and the loneliness faded. The source of the pain, in his neck, was being targeted. _Must be the angel's chakra._ He mused.

"Thi...an't...e." Came a third voice. He vaguely recognized it as Kakashi. "I fail...gain..." The voice was sad and defeated.

"Sensei?" He tried again, still just his thoughts. _Is he sad because of me? Because I died?_ Sasuke let his head face back and he felt a hard surface under him. Suddenly, his neck burnt from the pain and he hacked a large chunk of blood up. The chakra faded and his pain was mostly absent. All that remained was a dull ache.

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Kakashi's eyes widened when the Uchiha spit out a large piece of blood and started breathing again. "Sasuke!" He yelled, in joy and alarm. Naruto and Kumei rushed over to see that Sasuke was alive. When he opened his eyes, he saw three of his closest people. He let out a tired smile.

"Damn pain in my neck." He muttered. Kakashi took the hint and found the offending object. He carefully pulled it out to reveal a senbon.

"A senbon in his pressure point, causing a state of temporary death." Kakashi explained. Naruto's eyes teared up and he smiled.

"Glad you're not dead." the blond said.

Sasuke smirked as well as he could. "I can't die yet, Itachi is still alive."

Naruto laughed. "Yeah, you're too damned stubborn to die."

"Naruto." Kakashi said in a semi-serious tone. "We need to get you three back to the house to be treated."

Naruto grinned. "Sounds good." before passing out. Sasuke smiled and mimicked the action. Kumei was dragged down by the blond's weight and settled on sitting next to him.

Kakashi pulled out a roll of bandages and tied up his shoulder as best he could. He created three Kage Bushin and winced as the bandages turned red. He let the useless arm fall back down as two clones appeared. Each copy-nin hefted a child over his good shoulder and headed back to the bridge.

They were all so occupied that they never noticed the ex-Suna nin crawl away as far as he could before falling unconscious under a large tree.

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Two ocean blue eyes opened to take in the views...of a wooden ceiling. He was laying on the ground back in Tazuna's house. He was covered in a blanket and had a very soft pillow under his head. He turned his head to find his siblings lying next to him. Kumei had a peaceful smile as she slept, covered with a chakra burn cream. Sasuke just had bandages around his next and seemed to be fine otherwise.

Naruto pushed himself to a sitting position and felt a slight bit of discomfort. Naruto tried to remember what had happened the other day. Slowly it came back to him. Up until Sasuke was hit. Everything was a blur after that. There was only one thing he was able to tell, they did not finish Bokura, though Naruto didn't know if he'd come back from those hits anyways.

"What a hell of a first mission." Naruto grumbled.

"I'd say." Sakura said, entering the room. "I'm just glad that they left." Naruto nodded. "Hey, Naruto, what was that immense power?" She asked.

Naruto began to mentally sweat. "Well, I couldn't tell you. I was out of it by then."

Sakura sighed. She held a bit of suspicion that Naruto was lying, but she really had no proof and Sasuke had said the same thing. "I'm just glad you two are okay."

"I agree." Naruto said as he left himself fall back on the pillow. "I'm going back to sleep. Wake me when we go back to the bridge.

-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-

It was three days later when Team Seven led Tazuna to the bridge. Naruto was grinning. "Ne, Kakashi-sensei, are we going to get paid for an A-Rank mission or be stuck with the original pay?"

Kakashi lowered his book to regard his student. "Most likely we will receive payment for an A-Rank mission and it will be recorded as such.

"Sweet." Naruto said while putting his hands behind his head. "It was worth it."

"Says the one who didn't get stabbed in the neck, being technically dead for twelve minutes." Sasuke said from the blond's side.

"Don't get you panties in a knot Sasuke." Naruto grinned. "He only did that to get you out of the equation because you unlocked your third tomoe in both eyes."

"Try saying that after you've had a senbon shoved in your pressure point."

"Guys," Tazuna interrupted. "I don't think this is the time to chat." Everyone looked up to see a horde of thugs with a short, pudgy man standing in front of them. The problem, though, was the two captives at his feet. Inari and Tsunami lie, bound, on the ground. Gato was grinning like a mad man. The Leaf nin instantly brought out a kunai each.

"Now, now," Gato admonished, "I'd not be to hasty. Wouldn't want these two to get hurt, now would we?" He said as he pulled a rope attached to Tazuna's family's necks.

"No, don't!" Tazuna shouted. Gato's smug grin seemed to grow.

"The only way these two will live, is if you give yourself over in their stead." Tazuna closed his eyes at the idea. He had to do it, he couldn't let his daughter and grandson be killed because of a stupid bridge.

Kakashi moved his hand to Tazuna's shoulder. "Tazuna..." Tazuna shrugged him off and looked up.

"Fine." He said.

"What!?" Naruto yelled. "You can't be serious!" Tazuna shook his head.

"There is no other choice." The man walked forward. Naruto tried to stop and argue with the man but Kakashi stopped him. They watched, as if in slow motion, as Tazuna crossed the long bridge to meet his fate. Step by step, time seemed to creep by.

Then, Tazuna stopped next to his family and a mercenary grabbed him to stop movement. Gato grinned. "Kill them all!" He shouted. Three of the thugs raised their swords to strike the family and it snapped.

Everyone on the bridge froze before the strikes could connect. Their attention was focused on Naruto, once again pulling on Kyuubi's chakra, desperately trying to stop his instincts from taking over again. Next to him Sasuke erupted in white chakra and didn't have much of a problem keeping it together. Naruto's eyes were erratic and finally stopped on red slits. Naruto had kept his chakra output low enough for him to control. Sasuke eyes were completely white save for the center pupil and three tomoe in each.

"You sick son of a bitch." His voice growled demoniacally, caused the bridge to rumble. "Using a man's family to get what you want, and then not keeping your end of the deal."

"Disgusting." Sasuke's voice rang out with an angelic tone. It seemed to sooth those that it wasn't focused on. "You're sins are unforgivable. Prepare." In a flash, both boys disappeared and reappeared behind Sakura and Kumei. Sasuke set Tazuna down while Naruto laid Tsunami and Inari on the ground.

Naruto and Sasuke stood next to each other, glaring at the mercenaries. Everyone on the other side of the bridge was trembling.

"What do I pay you for!?" Tazuna yelled. "Kill them!" The mercenaries hesitated before a brave, or stupid, soul charged. The rest followed.

Sasuke and Naruto prepared a ranged attack that would wipe the bridge out. There was a problem, though. The demonic and angelic chakra was battling and stopping any attempts at jutsu or control.

"Damn it." Naruto ground out.

"Our chakras repel each other like opposite ends of a magnet." Sasuke said. "This limits us."

Kakashi was the only one to notice their last team mate. Sakura's eyes were sort of glazed over. She walked until she stood between the boys, that's when they noticed her. She held her hands out front and a pink chakra began to radiate off of them. It seemed to grab onto the two opposing chakras and held them together, mixing them all together. The ending result was all three being surrounded by a hot pink chakra that radiated fear and calm, anger and happiness, evil and good.

The charging thugs seemed to second guess their attack when these three preteens summoned more power than they'd ever seen in even seasoned Jonin. Kakashi just eye-smiled. He had no clue what was happening but it was working.

Sakura's irises and pupils changed to a hot pink and she said something in a voice that was neither happy not angry. It was a perfectly emotionless voice, a neutral one. "Oni-Tenshi: Re-Za-Bi-Mu(Demon Angel: Laser Beam)." The hot pink chakra joined at a single point and short out in a straight beam. The beam itself seemed to sizzle and glow. The end of it shot faster than the eye could follow and pierced Gato's forehead and anyone that happened to be in front or behind him. The beam disintegrated and Gato's body fell limp on the ground.

The thugs seemed to grow a brain and started to scramble for the boats that were moored on the side of the bridge. The mercenaries and boats were gone within minutes.

The hot pink chakra faded back into red, white, and pink before fading out all together.

"What the hell?" Naruto asked, dizzy.

"I think Sakura unlocked her powers." Sasuke said, equally as dazed.

Sakura, however was staring at the dead body of Gato. "What did we do, how did we do that?" She asked.

"That's a good question." Kakashi chipped in. "Keeping things from your team mates can be bad for team effort and planning."

"No, no, Kakashi." Sasuke said. "The Hokage told us not to tell until it awakened."

"And, it has awakened." Naruto added. "We'll learn all about it when we return to oji-san. He told us to bring you there when this happened." Kakashi nodded. Sakura wanted more answers but she let it go for now. Kumei was staring in awe.

"Sugoi!" She said. "You guys are so awesome!" She yelled, pumping a fist into the air. They all smiled at her childish antics. The blood and death over the past few days didn't seem to affect her at all.

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A week later.

Team Seven plus Kumei stood in front of a group of villagers on the completed bridge.

"Thanks for all of your help." Tazuna said to them. "We couldn't have done it without you."

Kakashi eye-smiled. "It's our job. Ninjas don't just kill people, you know."

"Naruto-nii-san, will you come back to visit?" Inari asked, hopefully.

Said blond grinned. "Of course, and I'm going to see how strong you've become since then." Inari smiled and tried to hold in his tears. "Hey, remember, I said it's okay to cry when you're happy." Inari let them go and hugged Naruto.

"We better get going." Kakashi said. "We'll be sure to visit sometime." He turned with a wave and led the four kids across the bridge.

"Hey, what are we going to name the bridge?" A villagers asked.

"How, about, The Super Awesome Bridge that Tazuna Made?" Tazuna suggested.

"Nah, how about the Great Naruto Bridge." Inari suggested.

"That's a good name." Tazuna agreed.

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**Chapter is shorter than normal but the Jutsu list might make up for it. Any Jutsu I don't add are already in the anime/manga.**

* * *

**Name:** Fuuton: Kaze Ba-Suto no Jutsu _Wind Style: Wind Burst Jutsu_

**Rank****: **C-Rank

**Description:** User exhales wind and controls direction with the extended fingers from rhino.

* * *

**Notes:** Similar to Fuuton: Fo-Su except that it focuses on a single point. Blades can be added.

**Name:** Tsuchi Bushin no Jutsu _Earth Clone Jutsu_

**Rank****: C-Rank**

**Description:** Creates a clone of the user out of stone or earth.

* * *

**Name:** Fuuton: Kaze Shi-Rudo no Jutsu _Wind Style: Wind Shield Jutsu_

**Rank****: B**-Rank

**Description:** After the Rhino hand sign is performed, the user brings the clasped hands down so their arms are level to the ground. A large circular shield of high speed wind forms around them. Releasing the sign stops the jutsu.

**Notes:** The size and strength of the shield is directly proportionate to the amount of wind in the area and the amount of chakra used.

* * *

**Name:** Suiton: Mizu Funsha no Jutsu _Water Style: Water Jet Jutsu_

**Rank****: C-Rank**

**Description:** Shoots a high-powered jet of water from the mouth or a nearby water source.

**Notes:** Width and overall force of the jet is relevant to the amount of chakra used.

* * *

**Name:** Raiton: Denryuu no Jutsu _Lightning Style: Electric Current Jutsu_

**Rank****: C-Rank**

**Description:** Focuses electrical charges through a body part into the immediate substance.

* * *

**Name:** Kaze Shunshin no Jutsu _Wind Body Flicker Jutsu_

**Rank****:** C-Rank

**Description:** A variant of Shunshin that uses wind to increase the speed slightly allowing it a potential use in battle unlike it's normal parent jutsu.

* * *

**Name:** Fuuton: Fo-Su no Jutsu _Wind Style: Force Jutsu_

**Rank****: **C-Rank

**Description:** The user swings their arm to create a blunt blade of wind that will blow away, depending on the amount of chakra, anything in its path.

* * *

**Name:** Suiton: Mizu DaiFunsha no Jutsu _Water Style: Great Water Jet Jutsu _

**Rank****: A-Rank**

**Description:** Shoots a high-powered jet of water from the mouth or a nearby water source.

**Notes:** Uses a massive amount of chakra to begin and constantly drains as it remains in effect.

* * *

**Name:** Katon: Hinagare no Jutsu _Fire Style: Fire Stream Jutsu_

**Rank****:** B-Rank

**Description:** Spews out a stream of fire from the mouth. The flames are not hot but plentiful.

**Notes:** Eats a bit more than normal chakra but spreads out and farther up with added chakra.

* * *

**Name:** Shiroi Katon: Daihinami no Jutsu _White Fire Style: Great Fire Wave Jutsu _

**Rank****: S-Rank**

**Description:** Combination of the Fuuton: Fo-Su no Jutsu(Force) and Katon: Hinagare no Jutsu(Fire Stream). Shoots a stream of fire out of the mouth that is fueled by the blunt winds causing wide spread, very hot fire.

**Notes:** Uses a large amount of chakra and concentration to perform two techniques at once.

* * *

**Name:** Fuuton: U**wadzutsumi no Jutsu**_Wind Style: Cover (Envelop) Jutsu_

**Rank****: **B-Rank

**Description:** Creates a layer of wind over the user that will slow down attacks and stop projectiles.

**Notes:** Uses a constant stream of chakra to maintain.

* * *

**Name:** Oni-Tenshi: Re-Za-Bi-Mu _Demon Angel Combo: Laser Beam_

**Rank****: A**-Rank

**Description:** One of multiple techniques that combine the chakra of a demon and angel by using the Oni-Tenshi Denrei.

**Notes:** Uses a highly concentrated chakra beam.

* * *

**Didn't get up to 7500 words even with jutsu dictionary D:**

**O well :P**

**Read and Review!**


	6. Tenants and Missions

**This is more an explanation and talking chapter...Doesn't contain much action.**

**Never fear! Action will maybe pick up next chapter!**

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**Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto or anything I take from other animes or mangas.**

**Started****: May 17, 2008**

**Worked On****: May 18, 2008**

**Finished****: May 20, 2008**

**Total Days Worked****: 3 Days**

**Start to Finish****: 4 Days**

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**Chapter 6****: Tenants and Missions**

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Sarutobi nodded as Kakashi finished giving the report of the mission to wave. Kumei had already gone home and it was about dinner time.. "Good, write up the full report and have it in my office by tomorrow." Kakashi nodded. The Sandaime Hokage's eyes hardened. Nobody noticed the waves of silver that flashed over the room as the wizened man sealed it. "Now, since Sakura's abilities have awakened, I think it's time to explain to everyone." He turned to the girl, who seemed to be nervous, and more so when his gaze fell on her. He softened it a bit. "Sakura, first there are two S-Class secrets that you must know."

"You're going to tell her?" Kakashi said, slightly wide-eyed.

Sarutobi turned to the copy-nin. "Of course, they're her team mates, she would learn either way and I prefer if it was this way." His focus returned to the girl. "Sakura, twelve and a half years ago, the Yondaime Hokage fought and defeated the Kyuubi no Kitsune. However, the way he defeated it was never stated in the history books and for good reason." His eyes briefly glanced at Naruto, whose head was lowered, blond hair covering his eyes. "The only way to defeat the immortal bijuu was to seals the soul and chakra separate from the body. He used a jutsu called the Shiki Fuujin(Corpse Spirit Sealing Method). This was a jutsu that called forth the form of the Shinigami to eat the soul of the target along with consuming the user, forcing them both into eternal combat in his stomach." The pink-haired girl shivered.

"But what does this have to do with our team?" She inquired.

Sarutobi took a puff on his pipe and exhaled the smoke. "Yondaime used this jutsu in tandem with two Shishou Fuuin(Four Image Seal) and the Hakke no Fuuin Shiki(Eight Divination Signs Seal Style). The combination of these seals allowed him to seal the soul and chakra of the great beast into a human being because the Shinigami wouldn't be able to contain them." Sakura's eyes widened as the pieces fell together. "The Fourth Hokage sealed the Kyuubi no Kitsune into Naruto Uzumaki." Sakura let a few tears fall.

"Why..." She asked. "Why does everyone hurt him and hate him then?" She shook her head, tears scattering. "It wasn't even his choice." Sarutobi sighed, this was a question that everyone would want to know once learning of Naruto's burden. That is, if they could look past the prisoner and see the jailer.

"The fools in this village are blinded by hate and used Naruto as a scapegoat for their anger." The old man sighed heavily, looking older than he ever did in the presence of others. "I made various attempts to help him, one being that anyone who spoke of his condition would be executed, but the council denied most of them. If I could have, I would've taken him in myself, but those old farts got in the way. This is a secret known to anyone who is nineteen or older right now. This leads us to an even lesser known secret. This is known only to six people in the entire village and three outside. Three of which are in this room."

Kakashi looked on curiously. He had no clue what his Hokage was talking about since he was sure there were no other secrets that dealt with his team. "I take it, the other two are Sasuke and Naruto?" The copy-nin asked. Sarutobi nodded.

"Hai, the secret is that Sasuke has a similar condition as Naruto does." The Uchiha clan, wary of the power Naruto might attain, decided to counter the boy by sealing an angel inside of Sasuke when he was three months old, still developing his chakra coils. They used the same sealing method that the Yondaime used to seal the Kyuubi and they all placed their hopes in him. They kept this inside of their clan and hoped that Sasuke would one day kill Naruto." Sakura's eyes became dinner plates. Even Kakashi's face showed his shock.

The old man stood and walked to the window to look over the village. "This indirectly lead to the Uchiha Massacre." Sasuke's attention immediately focused solely on the Hokage. "It was the final straw of selfish deeds that caused Itachi to slaughter them all. He did it, I suppose, at such a young age to stop them from forming Sasuke into their perfect weapon, like he was being turned into. Though, his mind was already gone from all the ANBU missions he went on at his age."

Sasuke hung his head and clenched his fists. _I...I still have to kill him...to avenge the clan that...wanted to turn me into a weapon..._ Sasuke's unwavering determination to destroy his older brother began to break. _He killed them all in cold blood. The whole family, not everyone could have been in on it...could they?_

Naruto, seeing his brother's raging emotions in the half-covered eyes, placed his hand on the Uchiha's shoulder. "Sasuke, don't think too hard on it. It will only cause more pain and confusion. But, whatever you choose, I'll follow you in it." Sasuke nodded and tried to focus back on the conversation.

Sarutobi, when he noticed he had the boys' focus, continued. "Now comes the secret that, until a few months ago, only I knew." This made Kakashi and Sakura feel proud and scared since they were being trusted with it. "A miss Sayuri Haruno is an Oni-Tenshi Denrei." He stated. "Sakura's mother was a messenger between the demons and angels. She was one in a long line that brought messages between the two and could use a pink chakra, reminiscent of their hair, that could calm and help both demon and angel. Unfortunately, Haruno-san lost all of her memories of being the Oni-Tenshi Denrei and of being a ninja in an incident fourteen years ago. She disappeared for a couple of nights one week and then came back, mind completely wiped of anything ninja-related. She settled down with a man and they both had a child that inherited the Denrei blood. I'm assuming it was Danzou but I have no solid proof." All were shocked at this revelation.

Kakashi was the first to break out of his trance. "I suppose that the forming of this team was not mere coincidence, then?"

Sarutobi shook his head. "No, I had planned for Naruto and Sasuke to be on the same team shortly after the clan's massacre. Then, when I learned that Sayuri had a child, I immediately altered the plans to include Sakura." The old man turned away from the window to regard the three children. "These three all have a secondary chakra store that they can use in certain times. Naruto's, of course, is the biggest by far. If we were to compare them by tails, Sasuke's angel would be about three chakra tails while Sakura's would be a single tail." The Hokage grinned after that sentence. The grin sent shivers down the Genins' spines. "Now comes the interesting part." He began. "Unknown to the Uchiha, the seal that the Fourth designed to go with the Shiki Fuujin eventually turns the host _into_ the very being sealed inside of them."

All eight eyes of Team Seven shot open wide. Naruto shivered. "S-So, I'm going to become the Kyuubi?" The fear was very evident in his eyes.

"In a sense, yes, but you will still be you. You just gain the power, chakra, and immortality of the higher beings within you. This begins after the being are awakened, which should have happened when you were fifteen. The fact that it happened two years sooner will affect the rate of change. Normally it would take five years to complete, but your chakra and body are still freshly developing and should take to it like a sponge to water. I'd estimate three years until it finishes. Hopefully, you'll stay loyal to Konoha and become it's guardians. A warning though, stay loyal to Konoha, _**not**_ the council or the war-hawk Danzou. Both may seek to end all three of you if they find out." All three teens nodded. The Sandaime sat back down in his chair. "All four of you, this knowledge is a SS-Class secret. If you tell anyone, you _must_ inform them that telling anyone else is reason for immediate death. Sakura and Sasuke, I'd recommend you don't tell anyone other than Jiraiya and Tsunade of the Sannin. When you three attain a level similar to the Sannin, I will resend the law so that you, and anyone else, may speak of it. This will only be when you're strong enough to defend yourself and the village from most any threat." The old man sighed and leaned back in his chair. He closed his eyes and rubbed his aching temples. "His has been hard on my frail body. You are dismissed. Naruto, Sasuke, try to contact your tenants tonight by mediating or unconsciousness." The boys absent-mindedly nodded.

Kakashi let out a heavy sigh. "This is a lot to take in. I truly have a team of the supernatural. What a joy..." _And a pain in the ass._ He added mentally. He turned and motioned to the two boys. "Naruto, Sasuke, let's go to your compound and I'll help you contact them. Sakura, you may go home." The girl nodded without even paying attention, lost in thought as she was, and walked out. The three males shunshinned into the child-made compound of the Uzumaki and Uchiha.

"Well, get to meditating." Kakashi said. "You can shower and eat after you contact your tenants." The shock had seemed to have faded as Naruto began grumbling. The boys sat down, side-by-side, with legs crossed. They closed their eyes and focused on their subconscious. They sat there for ten minutes trying to do that. Sasuke was out after six minutes, Naruto, however, was frustrated and showed it. He threw his hands up in despair.

"I can't do it!" He complained. "I can't focus long enough." The blond rubbed his head. Kakashi, from his position, just eye-smiled and walked over to the blond. Sarutobi, _did _say by meditating or unconsciousness. He poked the blond in the fore head with two fingers and the blond was out before he knew what hit him.

-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-

Naruto's eyes flashed open. "Stupid Kakashi." He muttered as he sat up. He looked around to find himself in a sewer of sorts. The passage was square and the floor had a couple of inches of water on it. His gaze fell on the dark yellow walls that were revealed from an unknown light source. There were cracks in parts of the wall, but they were nothing that would affect the integrity of the place. He looked up to the ceiling to see a multitude of pipes that ran along it, in and out of the walls. The large pipes glowed with a red hue while the smaller ones were blue. There were very thin lines that connected the two where the red mixed into the blue. Naruto figured it must be his and the fox's chakra.

"Why the hell is my mind a sewer..." He deadpanned. "Might as well find the fox and get this over with." He placed his hands behind his head and sauntered off down the corridor.

He'd walked for three minutes already. Everything was the same except for the red pipes. They seemed to outnumber the blue more and more as he walked on. He soon came to a side corridor. He turned to look and found two doors on each side, three padlocked, and one at the end. Standing in front of the far door was a figure that seemed to be contemplating. Naruto cautiously approached the figure until he was a few yards away.

The figure spun around and looked at Naruto with a confused expression. "Naruto?" It asked.

"Sasuke?" Naruto replied. "What the hell."

"No clue." He said. "I've been examining these doors for a few minutes. The three with padlocks refuse to open under any circumstance, but these other two are almost begging to be opened." Naruto looked to find the one at the end of the hall glowing red at the cracks while the door in the side was glowing white.

"Well, then, let's go!" Naruto said with a grin. "This had to be where Kyuubi and the angel are." Naruto just walked up and threw the red-tinted door open. Sasuke just shrugged and followed. After all, they were the prison, the demon couldn't hurt them, right?

When they walked in, they were met with a massive cage that seemed to go up forever. The bars were as wide as a human body and the cage was fifty feet wide as the least. In the center of the cage was a slip of paper that read 'Seal' that held the two sides of the gate shut.

"It's huge." Naruto said in awe. Sasuke activated his Sharingan to try and see to the top. It was difficult but he found it and his eyes widened.

"This cage is at least two thousand feet high." He voiced, his face and tone betraying his amazement.

"Seventeen hundred, ningen." A voice rumbled from the cage. Sasuke shivered a bit in fear but Naruto glared at the cage. Two massive red eyes opened and looked down on the two boys. "What do you want, jailer?" It asked. Naruto just glared up at it.

"I was told to contact you." The blond said, fearlessly. "I'm here to make a deal at the least, just take your chakra at the most." the two eyes closed, as if in thought.

A rumble sounded out. "Fine." Two small red orbs flashed open from the bottom of the cage, a foot higher than Naruto's head. The orbs approached the cage to reveal a woman in a red battle kimono with a dark maroon obi. Her red hair hung to mid-back, just above the nine fox tails that moved around behind her. Her expression was one of boredom and annoyance. "What do you have in mind, kit?" She asked, slightly curious, mostly annoyed. Her voice was the of a human female adult instead of the rumbling roar of the fox.

Naruto placed his hand to his chin. "I don't know. I never go that far in thought. I figured I would just have to take it from you."

Kyuubi clenched her fist and scowled at Naruto. "Hey! Just because I'm a massive nine-tailed demon doesn't mean I'm not intelligent!" She calmed down. "There's no point in trying to keep the power from you when you could just take it. So, I'll try to get something out of it."

"Well..." Naruto scratched his head. "I know that I want access to your power whenever I need it and just when I'm almost dead or under emotion stress. Hmm, what do you want then?"

Kyuubi managed to looked shocked for a brief second before schooling her features. _Asking me what I want?_ She thought. _Never would have expected that._ "Well, I'd much love to be out of this cage, but I know you wouldn't allow that. Even if you did, the only way I know would return me to my own body and I'd just go back to destroying everything."

Sasuke arched an eyebrow. "You act as if it doesn't bother you."

Kyuubi sneered. "Why would I want to go around destroying everything?" She asked heatedly. "I'm not a mindless critter. If I destroy something, it's for a reason."

"Then why did you attack Konoha?" Naruto asked.

Kyuubi managed to look a bit sheepish. "That and everything between my home and it." She muttered but the boys heard. "That was my body. Believe it or not, the Bijuu were once celestial beings that Kami sent down to Earth as guardians. Unfortunately, we had absolute power."

"Power corrupts, absolute power corrupts absolutely." Sasuke recited from a text he remembered reading in the academy.

Kyuubi nodded. "Slowly, every one of my sisters became destruction-craved beings. It wasn't as much our souls, but our bodies craved the destruction and our mind soon deteriorated. Might as well have been a mindless beast after I fell a few hundred years ago." She scoffed at her own weakness. "Kami had decided to intervene and sent the Shinigami to seal us inside of our dens in eternal slumber. But, the curiosity of you blasted ningen caused you to break in and awaken us. We went on rampages to destroy anything we could. This became a problem so the Shinigami gifted the best sealers with the ability to seal the Bijuu. Thirteen years ago I was woken by the man I seek to kill, though that's impossible considering the circumstances. Anyways, the bastard waltz in like he owned the place and used a black fire on me that burned for seven days and nights. It was the worst pain I'd felt in years and I immediately set off to where he'd come from. The Hidden Leaf."

Sasuke's eyes widened. "Black fire? Amaterasu." He said. "The power of the Mangekyou Sharingan." He ground his teeth, memories of the massacre coming back.

"That's it." The fox said. "Madara Uchiha was his name, I think." The annoyance and boredom was gone and she was talking like any normal adult female would. "When I attacked the village, trying to find him, I was sealed by the one you call Yondaime. Even if I had control over my body, I would have attacked your village, though I probably would have destroyed in before I got sealed in that case."

"Madara Uchiha founded the Uchiha clan." Sasuke said firmly. "He would be dead."

Kyuubi nodded. "I know that, who do you think he got the Sharingan from?" This left the boys shocked. "It any case, he is not dead, or at least he wasn't twelve years ago. I don't know what became of him since I've been asleep for the past twelve, almost thirteen, years."

Naruto shook his head. "We got off track."

Kyuubi arched an eyebrow. "I'd say."

The blond ignored her. "You never told me what you want out of the deal."

"If you'd be willing, temporary or limited freedom, providing you could find a way. If not, "She scratched her head like Naruto had done just minutes before. "I don't really know what else could benefit me inside this seal."

"I'll consider it." Naruto said, shocking Kyuubi again. Most people would never consider giving her any kind of freedom. "If I can do it, you won't have any more power than me and it won't happen for a while. I don't know of any jutsu that could let you out but maintain your connection to the seal."

Kyuubi sighed. "I guess that's the best I can get. Whatever, you can have my chakra whenever you need it." She waved her hand and walked back into the darkness.

"That was...enlightening." Sasuke said.

Naruto just put his hands behind his head again and led Sasuke out. "She wasn't as bad as the textbooks said." Sasuke nodded in agreement. They let Kyuubi's door and entered the white one. "I suppose this is the angel then." The entered to find a cage similar to Kyuubi but only a third the width and twenty feet high. The same paper seal locked this gate as did the last one.

"Before we begin negotiations, I'd like to clear up any question you have of this place." A soft female voice said, echoing around the room. It was calming and made you feel all warm and fuzzy inside.

"Okay." Naruto said with a grin. "Why are we both in the same place and can access each other's sealed being?"

From behind the bars a woman approached. She wore a white Kimono with a white obi. She had white hair that fell to mid-back between two large white wings. Her irises were white with a black outline. She was the epitome of beauty. Sasuke had to force himself not to look at her curves, Naruto feigned ignorance of it but was subtly glancing every now and then. She smiled. "The reason for this is a side effect of the Shiki Fuujin. Anyone who has it is connected in their mind. This is a section of the mindscape that everyone of them shares. By the number of doors in the hall, five people have the seal right now."

"Hrm, why are the doors padlocked?" The blond asked, eying her rack. Sasuke smacked him upside the head.

"Be more respectful." Naruto just glared at the Uchiha and said nothing.

The angel gave a chuckle that went unheard. "The doors are padlocked because you haven't had physical contact with them. Physical contact, no matter how brief, allows the seals to establish a connection. While in here, they cannot do anything to physically or mentally harm you if they mean to injure of kill you."

Naruto grinned. "That's a load off of my mind."

Sasuke shook his head. He focused on the angel and made sure it was her eyes that his gaze met. "Okay, miss..."

"Tenshi(Angel)." She filled in. Naruto arched an eyebrow. _How original..._

"Miss Tenshi, we're here to discuss the usage of your chakra." Sasuke said. "Whatever you want in return, we'll try to figure out a deal."

Tenshi just shook her head. "I don't desire much of anything, but if you would, try to rid the world of the truly evil men, like Orochimaru when you're strong enough." Sasuke nodded. "Also, I will only allow you to use my chakra when you have pure intentions in mind, such as protecting or saving someone. If you try to use it for revenge against your brother, I will not allow you to use it." Sasuke winced, that would be a blow during the eventual fight. He hesitantly nodded.

"Ne, you don't want out like the fox does?" Naruto asked. "I'd figure being stuck in here would grind on the mind and create a desire for freedom."

Tenshi turned her soft smile to the blond. "I suppose that would be nice, but I wouldn't ask for it out right. I'll leave that up to Sasuke."

Naruto turned his eyes away and muttered under his breath. "_How come Sasuke gets a hot and nice angel sealed inside of him and I only get a hot and grumpy fox._"

"You know Naruto," Tenshi began. "Kyuubi isn't all bad. Her soul is almost as pure as an angel. She was just overwhelmed by the amount of power she held." Naruto blushed in embarrassment. He hadn't meant for anyone to hear him. "Give her a chance, you'll find she's a lot like you in certain instances."

"Hey!" Naruto growled, shaking a fist at Tenshi. "I resent that!" Tenshi just closed her eyes and tilted her head a bit in a smile. _So cute._ Thought both boys. They blushed in unison.

"This was a nice chat." Sasuke said, forcing his blush away. "I'll be sure to visit when I can."

"Before you go, could you two do something?" Tenshi asked. Sasuke and Naruto both gave her a questioning look.

"As you noticed, it is quite lonely in here all the time. If you would, increase the connection between your seals to allow me and Kyuubi to share a cell?"

Naruto glanced at Sasuke before turning back to the female angel. "How do we do that, exactly?" After all, it wasn't every day that you messed around with seals that could contain as much power as Kyuubi has.

"Touch each other's seal and I'll do the rest."

Naruto looked at Sasuke. Sasuke arched his eyebrow. The blond spoke first. "That would be...queer."

Sasuke sighed. "Just do it, blondie." Naruto glared at Sasuke before raising his shirt to reveal his intricate seal. Sasuke mimicked the action before the placed a hand on each other's. There was a flash of white light on the seals before everything was engulfed in white.

When the light faded, Naruto and Sasuke looked over to the cage to find that it was fifty feet wide and seventeen hundred feet tall again. "Did it work?"

"Yes, it did." Tenshi said, walking out of the shadows in the cell.

"Hey!" A voice came from the back of the cell. "Who the hell's making the racket!?" Kyuubi walked up to the bars looking pissed off. She spied the two jinchuuriki and sighed. "What the hell do you two want now?"

"Now, now, Kyuubi." Tenshi said, her voice seemed to calm the fox. "They just connected the seals so we'd have some company." Kyuubi raised both eyebrows.

"At least it won't be so boring around here now. I'm going to sleep." She turned and walked back into the cell where, Sasuke figured, a bed was.

Tenshi turned back to the two boys. "Kyuubi and myself will help you with your training too. We'll start out with two medical related techniques. Since Naruto has a higher pain resistance and healing factor, he'll be learning Tenshi Gigei: Shougai Tensou(Angel Arts: Injury Transfer). This will allow him to take on any injuries that someone else has, leaving them perfectly fine. We'll teach Sasuke the Tenshi Gigei: Kakaru Anime(Angel Arts: Suspended Animation). It will allow him to place a sleeping or unconscious being into a state where their bodies are preserved and incapable of death or waking. This is used so that there is time to get them to proper facilities or to wait for a medic."

"Awesome!" Naruto said, pumping his fist in the air. Sasuke looked elated but didn't say anything.

"It was nice meeting you two." Tenshi said before raising a hand. "See you some other time." She let out a burst of white chakra that forced the boys back into the waking world.

-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-

Kakashi stood, leaning against the wall, for ten minutes while the boys spent about thirty talking inside of their heads. He was reading his Icha Icha Paradise and giggling every now and then. Kumei had come in at one point and pointedly ignored the boys before glaring at Kakashi and walking off.

Kakashi was jerked from his perverted book when the two boys shoot awake like they were slapped. The copy-nin eye-smiled. "So, how did it go?"

Naruto groaned and rubbed his head. "Well, we learned a bit of history and met two hot women." that caught Kakashi's interest.

"He meant the deals, baka." Sasuke said, standing up and turning to his teacher. "It turned out well. We can use their chakra when we want, but I have to have pure intentions. All they really wanted was to get out some times but we can't really do anything about that."

Kakashi's eyes widened a bit. "Allow the Kyuubi out? Are you crazy?"

Sasuke shrugged. "She's not what you'd think. Her soul in inside Naruto, not her body. Her body was corrupted by the amount of power she had and basically descended into an animalistic mindset where she destroyed everything. Without the body's corruption, she's actually a lot like Naruto."

Naruto groaned. "Can you guys stop saying that?"

"Why?" Sasuke asked. "You're going to become the nine-tailed demon eventually anyways."

"That's no excuse." Naruto grumbled. "Who'd I screw to deserve this."

"I don't know," Sasuke began, "but you seemed to be enjoying Tenshi's rack." Naruto's face blushed fifty shades of red.

Kakashi interest peaked. "Oh? Please continue." He said, giggling pervertedly.

Naruto, in his ignorance, complied. "Yeah, they had to have been D-cups at the least. They were huge, and her kimono didn't take away from their beauty." Kakashi and Naruto giggled. Sasuke sweatdropped.

"Perverts." He said, walking away. Though, his mind was on the same thing. _How great is it to have a hot, sexy woman sealed inside of you? Heheh...oh I forgot to tell Kakashi-sensei about the techniques they're teaching us. Hrm, oh well, it won't affect the team any with them not knowing._ Sasuke just continued on, planning to eat and go to bed after a warm shower.

Unfortunately for Naruto and Sasuke, their training for the techniques began that night while they were asleep.

-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-

The next day brought Team Seven to the Hokage's office. Sarutobi had a slightly disapproving look on his face, though no one could figure out why. Not until he spoke.

"Naruto, Sasuke," He said, he eyes leveling with the boys. "We had a mission request come in three days before you returned from wave specifically requesting one of you. We also had a second mission coming from Ame, of all places, requesting you too." Sakura was shocked. A _shinobi_ village was asking the help of her team mates?

Kakashi turned his eye on the two boys. "What have you two done to have to Ame Jonin Boss asking for you?"

Naruto grinned sheepishly. "Well, we helped destroy the Kazuka gang." A couch interrupted them.

"Unfortunately," Sarutobi said, "That's what the mission is about. Apparently, the Kazuka gang is back and have been gathering recruits to start a second civil war. Ame is requesting your presence to help eliminate the problem." Sakura's shock increased and Kakashi's began. Naruto's face hardened. While Sasuke had a glint in his eye. "Now, the other mission is from Haha Island a hundred miles off the coast of Tea Country. They're requesting help in investigating the abandoned lab of a certain ex-student of mine. Both of these missions are S-Classed and the employers were insane to request Genin for them." Naruto looked down and Sasuke frowned slightly. "However, from past experiences and the fact you'll have a team with a Jonin, I'll allow you to take one. Choose how you wish to go about it if you decide on one."

Naruto frowned. "Why do we have to take just one?" The blond asked. "There's two of us that are being requested and two places to go."

Kakashi's eye widened. "You can't send them on an S-Class mission! They're only Genin."

"Genin that have been training since the age of five and are low Jonin level in ability and experience." Sasuke said. He turned to Sarutobi. "We can split up and take a team of four each."

The aging man sighed and rubbed his temples. _Why did I know they'd react like this?_ "Fine, fine. Decide who's going where and we'll compile two four-man teams."

Naruto grinned. "I think Kumei would like to visit her home, so I'll take her with Kakashi-sensei. Sasuke and Sakura can go on the lab one."

Kakashi arched his visible eyebrow. "I think it would be interesting to see why the Ame Jonin Boss wanted you specifically. In any case, I'd like to request that Iruka Umino accompany Sasuke and Sakura on their mission since he has experience with fighting on the sea. I'd also recommend Anko since she'd love to destroy anything relating to her ex-sensei."

The Hokage nodded. "Very well. Sasuke, Sakura, Iruka, and Anko will go to Haha Island to investigate the abandoned lab. Naruto, Kumei, Kakashi, and an ANBU member that Kakashi is familiar with."

Sarutobi snapped his fingers and an ANBU appeared, kneeling, He had on a bear mask. "Hokage-sama?" He asked.

"You will be accompanying Naruto Uzumaki, Kakashi Hatake, and Kumei Uzumaki on their mission to Ame. I will fill you in on the details later. Your code name will be Yamato." The man pulled off his mask and clipped it to his belt as he stood. His face was emotionless. He wore a metal head guard that looked just like the one that the Nidaime Hokage used to wear. Under than was a cloth, like Kakashi's mask, that covered his chin, the sides of his face, and the strip around the back of his head. His hair was short brown. "If you will, go fetch Iruka Umino and Anko Mitarashi, please."

"Hai, Hokage-sama." Yamato disappeared in a swirl of leaves.

Sarutobi turned to Naruto. "Naruto, if you would, fetch Kumei so she can be briefed. Though she isn't a ninja, since she's in the academy to be one, this will be going on her record if she has to take part in anything. I don't encourage that." The blond nodded and shunshinned away.

-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-

Iruka was sitting at his desk, grading papers. _Those little runts._ He thought. _Always screwing off in class. They're grades prove it. Maybe they'll learn once they fail with low grades. Hopefully it will be before they go into the field._ His thoughts were interrupted when an ANBU appeared in front of him with a bear mask.

"Umino-san." He said. "Hokage-sama requests your presence for a mission. A substitute will be found, I'm sure." He disappeared just as quick as he came.

Iruka was confused. _Why would Sarutobi want me for a mission? I may be Jonin level, but I'm set on being an academy instructor._ He sighed. _Might as well just get up to see what it is._ He stood and shuffled his papers into a neat stack and shunshinned out.

-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-

A women in a fishnet suit, a short skirt, and an open tan coat that revealed her absent bra, was jumping through the trees as high speeds. These trees were huge, bigger than a human's arm span. She was chasing a particularly massive deer that she planned to skin and save for a few nights of dinner. She landed on a wide branch when a swirl of leaves stopped her. She looked at the kneeling ANBU with caution. Whenever ANBU came to her, it usually wasn't good.

"Mitarashi-san, Hokage-sama has requested your presence for a mission. The rest of your team is waiting in his office." The man disappeared.

Anko pouted. "There's goes my deer dinner." She turned back to where the deer was a minute ago. "You got lucky you son of a bitch!" She yelled, causing multiple birds to take flight. She turned back away and grinned. "This could be fun. There must be a reason he's requesting me for a mission." Her legs tensed and she prepared to shunshin right outside of the old man's window.

-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-

Iruka entered the office of his boss to see Sakura and Sasuke waiting. Naruto, Kakashi, and Yamato had been waiting outside with one of his newer students, Kumei. What he saw next, scared the crap out of everyone except Sarutobi.

-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-

Sakura nearly jumped out of her skin when a half-naked women jumped through a previously shut window. The woman grinned with a sadistic glee. "You called me, old man?"

Sarutobi sighed at her actions but ignored it. "Hai, you will be going on a mission with Sakura Haruno, Sasuke Uchiha, and Iruka Umino to Haha Island southeast of Tea Country. You are to investigate abandoned lab that once belonged to my student." Anko scowled, all of her excitement flew out of the window. "This is an S-Rank mission and will require yours and Iruka's prowess."

"Hokage-sama." Iruka said, frantically. "Why are you sending two fresh Genin on an S-Rank mission!? That's suicide!" The Chuunin was frantic.

"Iruka, Sasuke and Naruto are both low Jonin level and can handle themselves. Unfortunately, Naruto has a different mission to Ame to take with Kakashi, Yamato, and Kumei. It is also an S-Rank mission."

Anko gaped. Sure she was sadistic and unpredictable, but to send Genin on one of the highest ranked missions? That _was_ suicide. "I have to agree with the Chuunin, Hokage-sama." She said, her respect showing she was serious."

The old man just looked at the older two of the four shinobi. "Naruto and Sasuke have the permission from me since they were eight to attend missions that they think they can handle. I drilled it into their heads young that they are usually weaker than they portray themselves. Sasuke knows exactly what he's getting into. Sakura, however, is going only as part of Sasuke's team. She has received training from Naruto, Sasuke, and Kakashi and is estimated low Chuunin. Now, Iruka, you are accompanying this mission because you are the best we have that works on and with water. Anko is going because she would know the most about the traitor's bases and secrets."

Iruka sighed and accepted it. "Hai, Hokage-sama."

Anko's anger was gone, replaced by curiosity. _Jonin level Genin?_ She asked herself. _At least the gaki can take care of himself I might even be able to uncover some of my buried past._ Anko, when she returned to Konoha after receiving her Curse Seal, she couldn't really remember much of anything she'd done with the snake. "Hell yeah!" She said with a grin. "Anything to spite that bastard snake!"

"Are we safe with her?" Sakura whispered her question to Iruka. Sasuke sweatdropped at the older women's antics. She was like an older, more sadistic, Naruto.

Iruka shook his head. "I sure hope so."

"The full details are on this scroll." The Sandaime said as he handed the scroll to Iruka. "It includes the place where you will meet you client and the basic information. You will receive the lab's location from your client. Prepare for a month long mission. You leave tomorrow morning." Everyone, aside from the crazy snake mistress, nodded. Anko grinned and leaped out of the window that she came through.

Iruka led the two Genin out. "So, what have you two been up to since you left the academy?" He asked.

-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-

Naruto immediately stood when Iruka, led his friends out of the room. "Good luck on your mission, Iruka-sensei!" The Chuunin smiled and echoed the words. Naruto led the other three into the office. Yamato and Kakashi were emotionless while Kumei was grinning.

Sarutobi watched as the four entered. He didn't feel right giving these mere Genin S-Rank missions, but Naruto and Sasuke had the right if they thought they had the power."Naruto Uzumaki, Kakashi Hatake, Yamato, and Kumei Uzumaki, you are taking the S-Rank mission to Ame to help out with the civil war. You will report to the Jonin Boss upon arrival to receive exact orders. The Kazuka gang has risen back after Naruto and Sasuke destroyed their secondary base and are raising as force against the current government. According to the request, they have a total of four, maybe five, bases set up around the village. Part of your assignment will be to destroy those and their leaders. The ninja you will go up against will be Genin to Jonin level. I expect you to not allow Kumei to do anything she can't handle as she's not even a ninja yet. She's lucky I'm even allowing her on this mission. Further information is on this scroll and will be received upon arrival." He handed the scroll to Kakashi. He was leading since he once was higher than Yamato when he was still in the ANBU.

Kumei was excited and it clearly showed on her face. _Yeah! I get to go back to Ame and help beat the bad guys that were mean to me!_ She was one the edge of her seat, figuratively. Itching to get going.

"Don't worry, old man!" Naruto said. "I'll keep my little imoto safe!" He planted his hand on her head, causing her to glare up sat him. "She's just about as strong as Sakura, overall, and can handle herself against a low Chuunin."

"Very well." Sarutobi said. "Pack for a month long mission and be ready to leave tomorrow morning."

Yamato saluted while Kakashi nodded as they both left in swirls of leaves. Naruto grabbed Kumei around the waist and disappeared in a swirl of wind.

-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-

Naruto looked at the fox in front of him. Kyuubi was helping him with the Tenshi Gigei: Shougai Tensou. He had the chakra movement and the hand signs down. What he was having problems with was the detection of abnormalities in the body and pulling them to himself while ignoring bloodline limits since trying to pull one would kill both Naruto and the patient.

"Concentrate!" Kyuubi yelled at him. "Focus and compare the body to the map that I've placed in your head. You need to find anything that doesn't belong and surround it with your chakra. Check the problems with the DNA of the patient and make sure it's not a bloodline and then pull the abnormalities to yourself. After that, my healing will do the rest.

Naruto took in the fox's advice and tried to compare the practice body to the anatomy map that Kyuubi had implanted in his mind, with his permission, of course. Doing so wasn't as easy as one would figure.

Sasuke was over on the other side with Tenshi. She wasn't as hard as Kyuubi when it came to training. "Sasuke, remember, this is a space-time jutsu. It mimics the instantaneous freezing of a body so that everything stops working, but without the cold. Use your chakra and wrap it around their body. Condense it into a thing layer and push. The push transports them to a dimension that is very much like your storage scrolls. Their body here is merely a physical copy. Releasing the stasis brings their real body back to life."

Sasuke nodded and wrapped his chakra around the practice rabbit. It had a nasty gash in it's side, but it wasn't real, just made up in their shared mind. He tried to create the push using a similar method to the storage scrolls. He failed.

"This push isn't like when you seal an item." she said with a smile. Her radiant white eyes were watching the dummy and Sasuke carefully to detect flaws. "There's a significant difference to storing an object and a living being. You have to find that that difference yourself and master the technique."

Naruto and Sasuke continued working all night.

**-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-**

**Name:** Tenshi Gigei: Shougai Tensou _Angel Arts: Injury Transfer_

**Rank:** S-Rank

**Description:** The Shougai Tensou detects anything in the patient that should not be there and isolates it. It then pulls the problem areas into the user. The jutsu can be focused on certain areas and limit what is transferred.

* * *

**Name:** Tenshi Gigei: Kakaru Anime _Angel Arts: Suspended Animation_

**Rank:** S-Rank

**Description:** The Kakaru Anime places the target into a state of suspended animation so that their body will stay intact and alive until they can get to a proper facility for treatment.

**Man, didn't work on this chapter as much as I would have liked.**

**Anywho, I was worried about the interaction with Tenshi and Kyuubi, but I think they turned out okay. Not great, but good enough.**

**How do you like the two missions that they're taking? The one to Haha Island is the basically replacing the one where Anko and some Genin went down there to take care of the beast that was destroying cargo boats. It was a filler, but it works.**

**I'm hoping that these missions will take up at least three to four chapters. After that, will be a short trip and then the Chuunin Exams :D**

**Read and Review!**


	7. The North Gate and the Monster

**Sorry this took longer than normal. I had to think up everything on the spot since these missions were not pre-planned. Also, I had to rewatch the filler episodes to find out the characters and Anko's flashbacks.**

**I'm going to play it out mostly like it happened in the fillers, even though the main mission spec is altered and it happened after the Chuunin exams. Pretend it came earlier.**

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**Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto or anything I take from other animes or mangas.**

**Started****: May 21, 2008**

**Worked On****: May 23, 2008**

**Finished****: May 24, 2008**

**Total Days Worked****: 3 Days**

**Start to Finish****: 4 Days**

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**Chapter 7****: The North Gate and the Monster**

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Naruto looked around at the buildings that rose into the sky. They were in Ame and they were all examining the buildings. They were built tall, allowing more space for whatever was needed. There were multiple bridges and wires that connected the buildings to each other and the streets were littered with puddles as if it had just rained. Unknown to them, it had just rained, and stopped before they got there.

The people that failed to notice the shinobi forehead protectors ignored them, but those that did were wary of them. The few that recognized Naruto from four year prior waved to him happily. Waves, which he returned with a full grin. Kumei walk-skipped alongside Naruto with her own grin. She may have had a bad time while she was here, but this was still her home town. Kakashi held a silent amazement at the height of the buildings. Some of there had to be at least fifteen stories high. Yamato kept his dull expression and led the group to the three story tower in the center of the village.

It didn't take long to get there. When they arrived, the Chuunin guards allowed them passage. The final door that stood between them and the Jonin Boss had no guards whatsoever, as if the man inside was absolutely confident in his ability to fight off an attack. Kakashi snorted silently.

They opened the door to see an orange-haired man sitting behind a desk watching them. He smiled warmly when his eyes landed on Naruto and Kumei. "Welcome to Ame, Leaf nin. I am Pein, the Jonin Boss." He said, "I will discuss the plans and enemy forces with you before having an assistant escort you to your rooms."

Kakashi nodded and they stepped up to the desk to look at a map that Pein laid out. It was a massive circle with many intricate design inside that showed the village from a birds-eye view. In the center was a circle and four lines that signified the tower they currently stood in. He pointed to a western section where a red circle lay, covering roughly three percent of the western half of the city. "This is the largest base, though not the main. It has a large amount of Genin and Chuunin that are training. It will be the easiest to infiltrate and take down. There's an estimated seven Jonin, eleven Chuunin, and twenty-six Genin." He moved his finger to point at a smaller circle that was next to the northern gate. "This is a small base that is placed for convenient access to the gate for escape. Estimated ten Jonin and seven Chuunin." Next his finger slid over to a square. "This is an abandoned warehouse that they have taken to using. They store food, weapons, scrolls, and blueprint backups of the village. We estimate two Jonin and fifteen Chuunin" Then his finger moved to the fourth point, a small shaded point. "This is a sewer hatch that, until a month ago, was sealed securely. This leads to a large basement where they hold the prisoners captive. We _know_ there are five Jonin and three ANBU from some of the more foolhardy shinobi attempting to break in." His finger moved to a single red dot on the map that was very close to the tower. "This is their head base of operations. The new Kazuka Head is holed up in here. He is close to Sannin level and I'll handle him myself. He has four ANBU and six Jonin guarding him at all times. Got all that?" He asked.

The copy-nin nodded but voiced his question. "If I may ask, why was it that you sent for two Genin for an S-Rank mission?"

Pein smiled. "Those boys destroyed one of the old Kazuka gang buildings by themselves when they were eight. There's no doubt that they've improved since then, and Kumei seems to be coming along nicely from what Naruto's reports say." He stood up and looked out the window across the moist village. "One of the main reasons, though, is because we have similar ideals. We seek peace, though our methods vary slightly. Naruto seeks to be Hokage and what better chance than to have an entire village backing you?" He inquired turning back to the four. "I'm hoping that Naruto's, and maybe your, popularity in Ame will skyrocket, allowing Konoha and Ame to be on peaceful terms and giving Naruto an edge to achieve his dream. I have to admit that Sasuke's dream was a bit more realistic and attainable, but the harder to gain, the better it feels."

Kakashi nodded, he knew that much from experience. "How do we know that we can trust you, though? I mean no disrespect, it's just that Ame has been isolated for the longest of times and you calling on mere Genin is room enough for suspicion."

Pein laughed. "That's all understandable. But, as it is, no ninja under my command can harm Naruto, Sasuke, or Kumei purposefully. They have the seal of alliance as proof. If anyone that I command tries, they will receive quite the shock." Naruto and Kumei both pulled up their sleeves to show the dark tattoo. "But, with that, comes the other half. If we were to go to war with Konoha, which I pray doesn't happen, Naruto and Sasuke will not be able to fight against us. The seal doesn't physically prevent them, but their honor and tenants would stop them."

Kakashi and Yamato kept their expressions blank, but they were surprised that he knew of Naruto's burden, let alone Sasuke's. Kakashi nodded. "I understand. We'll begin our mission tomorrow with scouting, Pein-sama." Normally Kakashi wasn't this respectful, but the man in front of him was probably on par with Sarutobi or close to it. Not to mention that they were in a foreign village that wasn't an ally...yet.

Pein nodded and gestured to the door. "When you leave, the receptionist will escort you to your rooms." The Leaf nin nodded and left. Naruto wanted to talk a bit with Pein for old times sake, but he was being professional for the time being.

Once they were in their room a silver sheen flashed over the room and Kakashi turned to Yamato. "Do you think he can be trusted?"

Yamato shrugged. "He seems kind and sincere, but he knows more than I'd think he should."

Naruto just ignored them. He knew he could trust Pein, but he knew they couldn't just go on the word of a Genin. He turned to Kumei and grinned. "Oh, imoto, we're going to train with your elemental affinity and see how far we can get you while we're here in Ame." The brunette turned to Naruto and smiled.

"I'll catch up to you eventually, aniki!" She said. Then her face gained a sadistic tint. "And then I'll beat you to the spot of Hokage and ban all ramen!" She cackled maniacally. Naruto turned pale and looked on in shook.

"Like hell!" He yelled. "I'm getting there first and the precious will be safe!" The two adults looked at the children, amused.

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Anko, Iruka, Sakura, and Sasuke landed on the dock that led to the boat that would take them to Haha Island. It was a small sea port that had a few buildings for living and two or three for public use.

Iruka smiled. _Ah, I haven't been on the ocean in eight years. This will be fun._ Anko was grinning as well. This would be the chance to stick it to her ex-sensei, even if the lab was abandoned.

"Ne, so the big island there is Haha Island?" Sakura asked, pointing to the large island that was flanked by three others. Iruka nodded.

"Hai," Iruka began. "It doesn't have its own ninja village, but Haha is known worldwide for it's fishing and..."

Iruka's voice faded as Anko's awareness fell. She felt her heart thud against her ribcage as her eyes widened. Unwanted images were flashing back before her eyes.

_**Flashback no Jutsu!**_

_A young Anko stood on the very dock her older self was one, looking out to the islands. Her eyes were wide in wonder. Then, a swirl of wind circled her and she looked over her shoulder to see a taller man standing there. He had long black hair that fell over the back of his Jonin vest. His eyes were yellow, like a snake's, and he had purple paint around them. Anko turned her gaze back to the islands in the sea with a smile._

The scene changed.

_Young Anko was sprinting through a dark forest. She looked back to see multiple black snakes chasing her. She turned back forward and pushed all she could to run. The snakes lunged at her._

Before the snakes caught her, the scene changed again.

_Anko was standing in an empty hallway. The light of dusk was filling the hall with an orange glow. Her view changed to a small room that was lined with shelves. One the shelves were hundreds of body parts from humans and various animals sitting in jars of a strange liquid._

The scene changed one again.

_Anko now stood in a warehouse as the tall man from earlier released his fangs from her neck. A three tomoe symbol formed in an angry red color. Anko grabbed her neck and tears began to pile in her eyes. "Sensei, it hurts." She said. Her knees met the floor s tears fell from her eyes. Her sensei smiled and left, closing the door. Anko heard a lock being put into place but it didn't register through the pain. She fell on the floor and began thrashing around and screaming. Her neck was burning worse than any flame could do and sweat covered her body. She flung her limbs out in the empty warehouse and screamed until her throat hurt. It wasn't until a few minutes later when she fell unconscious._

_**Flashback Kai!**_

Anko's eyes were wide and her body was shaking. She moved her hand to her move as her mind remembered those past experiences that had been buried away. Her curse seal pulsed and she clamped her hand over it. The only one to notice her discomfort was Iruka as Sasuke and Sakura had began walking ahead. Anko turned to Iruka, looking fine, though he knew it was an act. "Can you guys set up the boat without me?" She asked. "I have something I need to do real quick." She was gone before the dolphin could question her. Iruka sighed and caught up to the two Genin.

Anko walked out on a ledge that was high over the docks. She could clearly see the islands still. On the docks she saw a ghost form of her sensei and her younger self. Young Anko laughed a bit. "I can say it properly." she said.

The ghost forms shifted as her mind played out a scene later that day, close to night. Young Anko pointed out to the islands. "Um, that's Haha Island, that's Taro, and that's Jiro." She said, pointing to each island in succession. "And...that's Kikai Island!"

"It seems you're well informed." the man said. Young Anko giggled and smiled.

She turned to the older man. "I want to be a smart and strong shinobi like you, Orochimaru-sama." She said with conviction.

The now-named Orochimaru turned a bit to Anko and smiled. "Oh?"

The older Anko's eyes were wide and the wind picked up, making her clothes billow around her. She seemed to be paralyzed with fear.

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A young girl with brown hair that hung in two locks framing her face stood in front of a man with two fish on a plate. The girl had bandages covering her forehead, neck, left shoulder, right leg, and left side of her face. She held up a small amount of ryo in her hand and let out a small breath.

The man sighed himself. "I'm sorry, but I can't give you any more than this." He said, seeming truly sorry. The girl was a bit down because of it. Near her, a pink-haired girl turned to them in interest. Behind the pink-haired girl came a boy with onyx colored eyes and a man with a pineapple styled hair cut.

"Something wrong, Sakura?" Iruka asked. Sakura didn't respond directly.

"Hey, mister!" She said, walking up to the two, "You're ripping her off! Those are an expensive pair of fish, aren't they?"

The man put his hand behind his head to rub it. "Goodness...it's not that I'm trying to rip her off. Due to the kaima(Sea Monster) trouble, no customers come here anymore. That's about the market price around here."

"Is that so?" Sakura asked. "Those kinds of fish are rare, though..." She stopped when the girl turned to run away. Sakura noticed the large box the girl carried on her back, but figured it held the fish.

"What's up with her?" Iruka asked. "Is she injured?" referring to her bandages.

"No, she's special." The unnamed man said. "She's a female diver at the cape of Haha Island."

Sakura looked at the girl and let out a small gasp. "Why did a diver from Haha Island come all the ways across the ocean?"

"That's because people on the island refuse to do business with her." The man said. He crouched down a bit and put his hand at the side of his mouth as if to stop others from hearing. "She was spirited away once."

"Spirited away?" Iruka asked, concerned.

"The thing were people suddenly disappear?" Sakura asked.

"Yes, some time ago, many islanders were spirited away, but one day, she came back alone." It was a small village so everyone revolted." The man explained as the girl walked passed a few boys. One nudged the other before stuck their tongues out at her. When she passed another group, the children got up and ran away. She bumped into a small boy who began to cry. She crouched down and rubbed his head to try and calm him. "I hear that she now lives at the edge of the village. She's dressed so strangely, and when I hear that story, I pity her too." He said in response to the look Sakura has towards the girl. "But she'd still kind of creepy." The young boy had stopped crying but began again when the girl stood and walked passed him.

Sakura looked around. "Ne, where's Sasuke?" She asked. Iruka and the man shook their heads. Iruka knew where the boy went and his connection with Naruto so he let him go.

Down the street, the girl stopped as a shadow fell over her. She looked up and hugged her bag of vegetables tightly. She backed up and turned to run away when another man blocked her path. The first one had spiky hair and a simple shirt and pants. The second guy had on black shades and a tank top. The girl moved back to the center point between the man and an apple fell out of her bag from the momentum. The first man stepped on it and ground it into the ground before his fist flung out and hit the girl in her stomach. She gasped in shock and pain as she fell to her knees and then her hands, dropping the bag. She was couching when she heard a voice.

"Hey!" It was calm, cool, and collecting, yet demanding. They turned to see a boy a few yards behind the second man with spiked up duck-butt hair. "What are you doing to her?" He asked. His tone scared the two men.

"Oh shit." One said before jumping away. Sasuke walked up to the girl and helped her up.

"You okay?" He asked. She answered with a slight nod. "You're from Haha Island, right?"\

She looked up at the boy before turning away. "Um, yeah." Her eyes focused on the boy's forehead. _A ninja!_ She grabbed her stuff and started to run away. "I'm fine." she said as she rounded the corner.

Sasuke stared after the girl. _I wonder...could those bandages be hiding something?_ He turned to head back to his team.

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Sakura and Iruka stood in front of a man. "I'm sorry, the last boat left already."

"But there's still light out." Sakura pointed out.

The man crossed his arms and shook his head. "There's no one who ferries around sunset around here. Sorry, but come again tomorrow."

"But..." the kunoichi began.

"Could we borrow a boat then?" Iruka asked. "I can run a boat myself pretty well."

The man looked at the Chuunin for a bit before sighing. "I suppose." He said. "If you insist, I can lend you one of my small boats.

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It was after dark when Sasuke walked up.

"Hey, Sasuke-kun," Sakura began. "Where'd you run off to?"

"I went to talk to a forgetful friend." He said. Behind him Anko appeared with a smirk.

"So, did you guys get the boat?" She asked.

Iruka nodded. Sakura looked at Anko. "Sensei, where'd you go all of a sudden?"

"Let's just call it information gathering." she said and smiled, not too different from Naruto's own. "Well, then, let's go!"

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Up on a rooftop were the two thugs that Sasuke stopped. The one with normal glasses smirked. "So, the Konoha shinobi arrived."

The guy with the shades grinned. "Yea, they were probably begged by Sea Country to investigate the kaima or something like that."

"Then we';ll have to welcome them." The other responded.

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Morning came too soon for Naruto's comfort as he prepared himself for the day. After he showered and had breakfast, he met Kakashi, Kumei, and Yamato in the living room of their temporary abode.

"Good timing, Naruto." Kakashi said. "We're planning out how we're going to go about doing this." He motioned to the map they were looking over.

"I'll take the prison myself." Naruto said in a serious voice. His expression almost convinced the two Jonin that he could do it. "I have a certain problem with people being mistreated."

Kakashi could understand that last part. "Naruto, there are three ANBU and five Jonin. I don't think you can handle that alone."

"Of course not." Naruto said. "That's where Kyuubi comes in. After spending thirteen years watching how those bastards in Konoha treated me, she has a sore spot for people like the Kazuka gang. I have near full access to her chakra. I can pull enough to where it won't hurt me too much."

Kakashi sighed. "As your commanding officer, I would order you to stand down normally. However, I trust you can handle it. If you need help, use this scroll." He said, handing a medium sized scroll to Naruto. "It will summon me to you position so that I can help you." Naruto nodded and stored the scroll in a hidden pocket. Kakashi focused back on the map. "While Naruto is breaking the prisoners out, Yamato and myself will focus on the western area. Kumei, you will accompany Naruto. After we accomplish our objective, which is eradication of the Kazuka, or are forced to retreat, we will meet up here and take out the rest." He looked up to see everyone nodding.

Kumei grinned. _At least I get to go with aniki. If I went with the other two, they wouldn't let me do any fighting at all. Now, I can test myself against enemy ninja._

Naruto smirked. He would get to see how good Kumei was now. He knew she was at least low Chuunin by now, but she hadn't been in a real battle yet. _Got my way again. Kyuubi, you're a good bargaining chip for getting what I want._ The fox inside of his mind grinned.

_**Yeah, I am great.**_ She said in total arrogance, though Naruto could tell it was half-false. After all, a demon as strong as Kyuubi didn't live that long if they had an arrogant attitude.

"We'll set off after noon since they'll expect us to attack at night." Kakashi said. "This will also mean we'll have to be extra careful with stealth since there will be light out."

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Iruka stood calmly at the back of the boat as they sailed into the ocean. The night was quiet and serene as Iruka steered the boat. "It's a nice night out." He said, trying to break the silence. Sakura nodded and smiled.

"It's so peaceful. I wonder why no one would ferry after dark." She wondered to herself out loud.

Sasuke's eyes opened and he looked across the open waters. "It's the kaima." He said, reminding her of what the boatman said. "The monster probably attacks any ships that go onto the sea."

"I see." Sakura said before the boat was jostled violently. Iruka was gritting his teeth and he tried to move the oar that he used to steer them. "What's happening?" Sakura asked, looking around.

"Hey guys, forward, look forward!" Anko shouted. They turned to see a whirlpool trying to pull them in. "Go around it, hurry!"

"I can't!" Iruka shouted. "The oar is stuck and won't move!" Sakura stood up to help when a thin pink tentacle wrapped around her waist and hoisted her in the air with a scream.

"Sakura"! Iruka said as he gritted his teeth. Anko was already ahead of him.

"Why you," The snake kunoichi said as she thrust her arm forward. "Sen'eijashu(Hidden Shadow Snake Hand)!" Four snakes burst from the cover of her coat sleeves and followed the tentacle. It swung high and then sped down into the water. She dove in to follow.

Back on board, Sasuke and Iruka were tugging on the oar. "This is it." Sasuke said. Iruka nodded and they both jumped off the boat to land on the water. Anko climbed out, holding Sakura. Sakura was soaked and shaken but she was conscious and ready to fight back if the look of anger was any sign.

"So they've appear already." Anko said as the boat was pulled into the whirlpool and sunk to the bottom. "Be careful, it's targeting us from underwater." Anko set Sakura on the water as she put the water walking to use. Anko charged forward and grinned when the pink tentacle came out of the water. "Katon: Ryuuka no Jutsu!" She blew a stream of fire out of her mouth that traveled down the tentacle and caused some of the water to spray into the air from the force. The fire burned for a few second before it faded to reveal a man that fell apart into water.

Sakura was looking on in amazement at the amount of fire that was just produced when she noticed something. "Where's Iruka-sensei?" She asked. Sasuke looked around, shocked that the Chuunin could go anywhere without him noticing it.

_Mizu Bushin?_ Anko though before the pink tentacle wrapped around her neck from behind. It was revealed to be the arm of the man with glasses. He laughed and Anko grabbed the flesh, trying to pry it away. "You were careless." He said.

"Suiton: Rasenfunsha(Water Style: Spiral Jet)!" A voice echoed from under them. The water at their feet spiraled and crashed into the man's stomach, launching him away from Anko. Iruka jumped up and landed on the surface with a grin that was lightly off on his face. "So were you!" He said. The man skipped and bounces across the water before he fell in.

A hand grabbed Iruka's leg and pulled him underneath the water. The Chuunin found himself in a headlock as his chakra drained out. The man that was holding him was the one with shades on. "How's my chakra absorption?" He asked with a grin. His grin faded when his mask shattered and the man in front of him wormed out of his grip like he had no bones at all. Iruka grinned.

"Well, well," He said, the water not stopping him in the least. "Looks like someone's overconfident. You should have paid more attention during your training. Never let the enemy get behind you!" The Iruka in front of the man dispersed into the water itself and a spiraling jet of water crashed into his back. Iruka surfaced with his grin still in tact. He looked to see Sasuke deliver a powerful kick to the other guy's jaw, sending him flying through the air. _Powerful._ Iruka thought.

The man flipped and landed on the water. He wiped a stream of blood from his mouth as his partner climbed out of the water. The shades man grit his teeth. "Suiton: Daibakuryuu no Jutsu(Water Style: Great Exploding Current Jutsu)!" The water in front of them swirled in another whirlpool that seemed to grow by the second. The two men fell into the water, revealing that they were clones.

"What's their plan?" Anko asked, examining the whirlpool. Two hands came up and grabbed Sasuke's feet. He didn't have time to react before he was pulled down and thrown into the whirlpool. "Sasuke!" Anko tried to dive in when a foot met her jaw. She stumbled back and rubbed her sore mouth as she glared at the glasses man. "Bastard." She muttered.

Sakura dove in and looked for Sasuke. She saw him at the bottom of the spinning water, laying on a rock. The pressure and currents were stopping him from moving and he was running out of breath. She was about to try to use her water manipulation to slow the speed but a hand caught her by the neck from behind.

"Little girl," The man said through a second mask he'd obtained somehow. "Mere Genin trying to defeat us." He was draining her chakra as fast as he could.

Sakura closed her eyes and grabbed the hand, trying to pry it away. She focused as much chakra as she could into her left hand and grabbed the man's, crushing it. He cried out in pain as she turned around and sent her fist to hit him in the stomach. He was launched through the water from her super human strength and directly into the whirlpool, making him release it if he didn't want to kill himself. Sakura tried to swim to Sasuke but she had been underwater too long without breathing. She felt her vision and senses failing her. A strong arm wrapped around her torso and brought her above the surface but she passed out.

Anko blocked a kick to the side of her head and lashed out with a kunai. The man brought his other leg up for a second kick. She was ready and tried to but the limb, only for it to bend and wrap around her arm. His left hand wrapped around her other arm as he brought his right up with the kunai she'd held just a second ago. "Damn snake bitch." He said as he tried to cut her. Anko just smirked. Snakes crawled out of her arms and clamped onto his arms and legs, holding him in place and injecting him with a poison. Unfortunately, she couldn't produce snakes with lethal venom like Orochimaru, but she could paralyze them for hours on end. The man dropped his chakra concentration and fell into the water. Anko dove it but the man was gone, no signs left.

Sasuke lay on the rock at the bottom. _Who would have figured I'd die by drowning?_ He asked himself. He closed his eyes and let the darkness gradually take him. He was on the brink of unconsciousness when he felt a pressure on his lips and air entering his lungs. He cracked his eyes open to see the girl from earlier back up from his mouth. His mind failed to form any recognition of what happened and he passed out. The girl grabbed his body and swam to the surface.

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Anko's head broke the surface as she breathed in. "I can't find him." She said, turning to the now recovered boat that Iruka stood in next to an unconscious Sakura.

Iruka sighed. "Hopefully, he got away. We shouldn't have agreed to come on this mission with these two."

Anko silently agreed with him and climbed into the boat. She bit her finger and did a few hand signs before slamming her hand on the water. A circular seal spread out form her hand as a cloud of smoke erupted form it. "Kuchiyose no Jutsu(Summoning Jutsu)!" She said. The smoke cleared to reveal five snakes. "Go and look under the water for a boy with black hair and bring him to the surface if you find him. We'll be at the large island over there." She pointed out Haha Island. The snakes hissed and nodded before plunging down. She sighed. "Let's go. If they find him, they'll bring him to us." Iruka nodded and pushed the boat along with the oar.

Anko grunted slightly, that went unnoticed by Iruka, and clamped her hand over the seal as it pulsed.

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Naruto was heading north with a determined expression on his face. Kumei was following him but seemed troubled.

"Aniki, aren't we supposed to be heading for the sewer hatch?" She asked. Naruto shook his head.

"We will, but I'm taking out the base near the northern gate first. That is their backup plan for escaping and I'm going to eliminate it." _I'm going to need my energy to fight in the prison. I should let Kyuubi handle this._ "Kumei, when we get there, stay back. I'm going to let Kyuubi handle it so we can hurry to the prison." The brunette nodded.

They stopped just outside of a wide, but mostly empty, street. Naruto, now without his headband, shoot across the street in a blur to hide in the shadow of the circular building that signified the enemy's base. Kumei repeated Naruto movement, though she had to put her all into it and was still slower than the blond. Naruto used henge to become a rat and sat on a window sill to look in. The bottom floor had two Jonin that were playing cards and a Chuunin that was standing guard. On each of their breast pockets was the Kazuka gang symbol of a rat skull.

Naruto fell from the window and released the henge. He made a single shadow clone and attached two explosive notes to before having it henge into a rat to cover the bombs. He crouched with Kumei in the shadow of a nearby building as the rat entered the building.

"Hey, it's a rat." Came the voice of a Chuunin.

"Just kill it." Was the first Jonin.

"No, we can't kill a rat, it's our symbol." The second said with slight conviction.

The first scoffed. "That's just for show." While these two were arguing, Naruto had set off the explosive notes. It was too late for them to notice as the rat exploded in a shower of cement and blood. The explosion killed the three that were in the first floor and made the rest of the building unstable. It wasn't long before the leaf nin could hear the sounds of the other ninja rushing down to the bottom to find out what happened. Naruto sent a second clone in as a rat to see how many were down there. Naruto waited patiently while Kumei was getting impatient. Naruto placed a hand on her shoulder to calm her down. _I may not need Kyuubi if I can pull this off with simple traps._ Naruto thought to himself. Then he received the memories of the clone. There were the other six Chuunin and seven Jonin at the bottom, meaning one Jonin was somewhere else in the tower or not there at all.

"Kumei," he whispered under his breath. "help me place two explosive notes on each clone. If we're lucky, we can get most of them." He said as he made five shadow clones. It took them twenty seconds to prep the clones and henge them into rats before sending them in.

Once they were all in the building, Naruto grinned. "Boom." He said. The bottom part of the building exploded, blowing the whole thing out of place. Chunks of cement flew out randomly. Naruto and Kumei just dodged any that came their way as they watched the six story tower fall over. It crumbled in the street and two Jonin landed on the rumble.

"What in the hell!?" One said, obviously pissed off. The other calmly looked around. He seemed the more intelligent of the two.

Naruto grinned from the shadow he was in. "Stay here." He whispered to Kumei, so quiet she almost didn't catch it. Naruto began to reach into the pool that was Kyuubi's chakra. _Looks like I won't need Kyuubi for this. Her chakra will do._ Inside his head said fox just pouted. She wanted in on the bloodshed! Naruto's chakra flared as red chakra surrounded him, forming a single red tail and fox ears of the substance.

The two Jonin were instantly alert when they felt an evil chakra wash over them. It wasn't hard to pinpoint it and they looked to see a blond kid with a grin, showing his enlarged canines. The first one scowled. "It's just a kid." The other glared at his partner. _A kid with power to match a Jonin it seems._ He pulled out two kunai that he launched at Naruto as a distraction before he began his jutsu.

"Suiton: Mizu DaiFunsha no Jutsu!" The water blasted from his opened mouth at the glowing boy. It was an inch from hitting him when he disappeared in the blink of an eye. He looked over to his Jonin partner for his input when he saw that the man had a blade through his throat. The living Jonin jumped back, directly into Naruto's clone. The exploding note on it exploded, blowing the clone and a log to smithereens.

The Jonin looked around almost frantically, trying to find the speeding jinchuuriki. "Where are you, monster?" He muttered under his breath. That statement caused him to die three seconds sooner than he would have if he'd kept his mouth shut. He looked down in shook at the clawed hand jutting through his chest cavity. His eyes glazed over and he fell as Naruto pulled his hand out and released the chakra.

Kumei dropped next to him with a grin. "That was awesome, aniki!" Naruto smiled and rubbed her head, messing her hair up. She frown pouted at him, making him chuckle.

"Yeah, yeah, imoto. I'm awesome." He said, grinning. _**Hey! Without me you wouldn't even be able to be awesome!**_ Kyuubi yelled inside of his head.

_This what you want Kyuubi._ Naruto said in his mind. The fox huffed and sent a picture of her cutting off some very important parts of Naruto's. He shivered. _Point taken._ He muttered. He turned to Kumei with his smile and motioned for her to follow. They were going to the prison now.

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"Kakashi-sempai, you know Naruto won't follow your orders, right?" Yamato said, wiping off a kunai on the dead corpse next to him.

Kakashi sighed. "I know, but Naruto never listens. He's never reprimanded for it because he always keep his allies alive, from what reports I read on his excursions during his academy years. He's going to do things his way unless you threaten his friends or his ramen." Yamato sweatdropped at the end.

"He'd make a good ANBU leader." Yamato said.

Kakashi nodded in agreement. "Maybe, but he'd got a ways to go before I let him get that high. I would rather no one became an ANBU captain near as soon as Itachi or myself did. It's not good for the mind."

"That may be so, but Naruto's mind and will power are the strongest in the village." The bear ANBU said. "He could probably stand up to Ibiki and Anko's torture and live long enough to say he didn't reveal any info with a grin."

Kakashi sighed. "That could be a good thing, but at what cost?" the copy nin asked. "All the abuse he had to go through as he was younger, being left out from everything. He's lucky he has Sasuke and Kumei to help him stay sane." Yamato stayed silent but agreed with his once-captain.

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"It has been a while, Orochimaru-sama." A kneeling man said. He had on a white lab coat and had a snort, pale green ponytail.

"I just dropped by, but I didn't expect you'd still be here." The man on the throne said, most of his body covered in shadows.

The man raised his head slightly. "But thanks to that, we were able to meet again."

Orochimaru chuckled. "So, does that fact that you're still here mean you're continuing our research?"

"Yes, I thought it would be of use to you one day, Orochimaru-sama."

"Did you really?" The snake man asked.

"All of this is done out of my loyalty to you."

"Well then, do as you like."

The pale-haired man bowed his head and closed his eyes in gratitude. "Thank you."

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Blurry eyes opened and stared at a wooden ceiling. Sasuke turned his head to the left to see the girl from earlier wetting a washcloth. She placed it on his head and walked out with the container of water, closing the sliding door. Sasuke's vision faded and he went back to slumber land.

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Anko found herself sitting on a mat in front of their client. He had no hair on top of his head, but had a beard that would make up for it. His body had the muscle of someone who could work a forge or carpentry. "I'm the one who will take charge of guarding the government money transport ship. My name is Hitode. I've been made aware of the situation. Since your comrade is missing, I am sure you are very worried, as am I. I can only hope he will be found."

"Have you heard anything since then?" Anko asked.

"Unfortunately, we have not received any information on the victims. But this is very troubling. This is hard to say but the money transport ship departure has been moved up. As of now, we are planning to depart tomorrow morning. I am sorry that we were late in notifying you. There are many people who think relations with Water Country is most important, so we had to move up the departure time and the rest of your mission specs."

"I understand." Anko said. "What are the rest of the specs for this mission?"

Hitode sighed. "The most prominent is the protection of the government money transport ship. The second priority is the extermination of the kaima that has been harassing all sea goers. Your third and final job is to inspect and destroy the lab that Sasuke and Naruto discovered last time they were here. It was abandoned at the time, but we have reason to believe the people were hiding and are the cause for the kaima's attacks."

"Okay, we will report to the dock before departure tomorrow. We will spend the rest of today searching for our comrade."

"Just one thing," Hitode said, "As you can see, we are not a wealthy country. Both we and the fishermen are troubled by the kaima problem. Please take good care of our country." He finished with a bow.

Anko grinned. "Understood."

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Sasuke woke in the wooden building again and sat up, letting the washcloth fall onto his lap. He looked up when he heard the sliding down open to see the girl again. "You've awakened."

"Yeah," Sasuke said with a sigh. "Thanks for saving me." He said.

The girl just bowed her head almost imperceptibly. "It was nothing special."

"I'm sure it wasn't...Isaribi." Sasuke said with a smirk. The girl's eyes widened a bit and her mouth opened some in shock.

"How do you know my name?" She asked, "You're not even from around here."

Sasuke put a pout on his face, a pout that he would only let three or four people in his life see. "Did you forget me already Isa-chan?"

Her eyes widened further. "S-Sasuke?" She asked, her voice wavering.

Sasuke smirked again. "Right on the dot. Though, Naruto isn't here this time." The Uchiha stood and followed the girl into the other room where she was cooking some soup.

"What are you doing over here again?" Se asked in a more comfortable tone than she had the previous day.

"A mission." Sasuke said. "Naruto and myself were called specifically for a mission by Hitode but Naruto had to go on his own mission to Ame. My team has come here to investigate Orochimaru's abandoned lab and destroy it. I suppose we'll also end up being told o kill the kaima too." The boy paid close attention to the girl and smirked to himself when her eyes widened again.

"You should avoid the kaima." She said, emotionlessly. "You won't be safe attacking it."

"Get over yourself." Sasuke grunted. "Naruto and myself are the most powerful Genin in any country. I'm in no real danger unless Orochimaru himself is here."

"Is that so?" She said. "Sasuke, when you're done eating, you should leave."

Sasuke glared at her. He knew she was hiding something and he would find out. "Whatever floats your boat miss priss." He said. She stood a left. Sasuke quickly finished his bowl and followed her outside of the cabin. When he saw it, he was slightly shocked. There was graffiti all over the walls and all of the glass was broken. All over the cabin, 'monster' was written. _I suppose this is part of what she was hiding._ He thought to himself. _**Poor girl.**_ Tenshi intoned. _I have a feeling I'll find out what's under those bandages this time, and it won't be any burns like she said before._

"It's the doing of those village brats." She said. "It's happened so often, I've stopped thinking about it." She turned to walk away. Sasuke faced away but stopped when he heard a shout.

"Stay away, monster! Go somewhere else!" Sasuke whirled around to see six children gearing up to throw rocks at the girl. "You damned thing, take this!" One of the girls threw a stone that hit Isaribi in her raised forearm. Sasuke's visage immediately hardened and he disappeared.

"Monster! Go somewhere else!" A second kid, a boy this time, threw another rock directly at the girl's face. It was stopped by a hand that caught it. They all looked to See Sasuke standing there, staring at them with a face that scared them to high hell. He closed his hand and crushed the rock into dust.

"It's not nice to hurt people just because they're different." He said to the frightened children.

"Who are you? This monster's friend?" One brave and stupid kid asked.

"Monster, eh?" Sasuke asked nonchalantly.

"Everyone says it!"

"Yeah, that Isaribi was spirited away and became one of the kaima!"

Sasuke let out a laugh. "You guys are fools to believe what everyone says. Someone cannot just turn into a monster or a kaima. I suppose there's gene slicing but they're still human." Sasuke glared at the children. "It would do well for your health to stop treating this girl like this or I'll have to get my friend up here. And he is not to nice to those who pick on other just because of thing they had no choice over. If I find any one of you hurting her again, I won't hesitate to do that same to you. Got it!?" He growled at the end. The kids nodded and ran off.

"It's okay. Just leave me alone." Isaribi said, standing up.

Sasuke scoffed. "If I did that Naruto would kill me. Sorry but you're stuck with me."

"I'm telling you it's none of your business!" She yelled. "I'm a girl that was spirited away. It's normal for people to be revolted."

"It isn't your fault, Isaribi." Sasuke said in a cold tone.

"It doesn't matter. People never try to accept something different. That's why..." She was interrupted by a horse's galloping. A man rode by on a brown horse and Isaribi narrowed her eyes at a cylinder he had on his waist. After he passed, she walked by Sasuke and continued on her way. Sasuke followed her without a word.

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**Hrm, I got too into writing this chapter at the end and it went past my goal of 7500 to almost 8000 words.**

**The Haha island mission is mostly filler, but I'm changing things. I'm replacing most of what Naruto said or did with Iruka, or Sasuke when with Isaribi. Anko is herself and Sakura replaces Ino. Shino doesn't talk much as it is so Iruka takes his place whenever he does.**

**The mission with Naruto probably won't be too exciting, considering how many ninja there actually are. Don't expect any drawn out fights until they get to the base of operations.**

**Read and Review.**


	8. The Kaima Revealed

**Not getting many reviews lately TT**

**But hell, I'm just glad I was able to drag this out this long without losing interest :D**

**I've already got all of this planned out up to a few chapters into Shippuden.**

**This story has broken the record of reviews, words, favorites, and alerts of all of my abandoned fics :D All that's left is Hits and I only need about 700 more. That will be accomplished sometime after chapter 9, I estimate. Maybe this one :O**

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**Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto or anything I take from other animes or mangas.**

**Started****: May 24, 2008**

**Worked On****: May 26, 2008**

**Finished****: May 27, 2008**

**Total Days Worked****: 3 Days**

**Start to Finish****: 4 Days**

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**Chapter 8****: The Kaima Revealed**

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Kumei watched as Naruto landed on the marked sewer hatch and destroyed it with a chakra empowered claw. He turned his grin towards her a nodded to the hole before jumping in. She mimicked his grin and hopped in. "My turn!" She said to herself as she landed.

Naruto looked at her. "Kumei, we're splitting up to search for the prison. When you find it, try to signal me with the seal. If you get into trouble, summon Kakashi with the scroll." He said, handing her the scroll that Kakashi had given to him earlier that morning. "Let's go." Naruto shot off to the left while Kumei went right.

Kumei jumped across any waterways that she found. It was a disgusting color and gave off a disgusting smell. The whole system of sewers seemed to stretch and cover all of Ame in an intricate maze of tunnels. Kumei had already forgotten the way back when she found a dimly lit corridor that lacked any path for sewage. She used every bit of stealth she had to peak around the corner. There was a single Jonin with a bottle of sake reading a magazine. Kumei sent a pulse of chakra to the seal over her heart to signal Naruto.

_I want to beat this guy by myself._ She thought. _I'll use the advantages of a woman's body to do it._ She raised her hands into a seal and disappeared in a small poof of smoke. It disappeared to reveal an adult Kumei that had a bruised shin and various scratches over her body. _I already know the perfect back story._ She told herself. She creeped back a few yards before she went into form and starting to stumble along the path. One eye was half lidded and she favored the leg with the bruise. Right as predicted, the Jonin had a kunai out, prepared to kill the intruder when she turned the corner. She stumbled a bit and caught herself on the wall before she looked up at the man with a pained expression.

"Sir, do you have anything that could help the pain in my leg?" She took a step forward and winced. "Some bastards thought it would be funny if they through me down here for not letting them have their way with me. I injured my leg and got a few scratches."

The man, after checking for any deception helped the women to sit against the wall. "Sure, just hold on." He pulled some cream out of an emergency medical pack and put it on the bruise to lessen the pain and speed up recovery. He grabbed a roll of bandages and wrapped it around it to stop air from reaching the nasty cut that was in the center of it. Kumei played along and winced when she should and let the man dig his own grave.

When he finished, she tested her leg and smiled when it didn't hurt as much. "Thank you, sir. If there's any way I could repay you..." The man's face instantly lit up, though he hid it faster than she could see.

"Well, it's been a while since I've had some fun." He said with a perverted grin. Kumei grinned back at the man.

"Oh, I see." She said seductively. Where she learned how to do that, she would never tell anyone except the Icha Icha Movies she found under Naruto's bed. "So long as you don't release inside and take it gently, I'm sure we can figure this out." She walked up the man, careful to make sure her limp was still there, and wrapped around the man before whispering into his ear. "You know, this is only my second time, so be gentle." She nibbled on his collarbone and grinned to herself when he closed his eyes and gasped. She pulled out a kunai and brought it to the back of the man's head, killing him in an instant.

She stepped away from the dead body and shivered. She just took another human being's life. She closed her eyes and forced the guilt to the back of her mind until she had time to deal with it and released her henge. She pulled the bandages off of her leg and dragged the man's body back and around the corner only to come face-to-face with a man with a feral grin. She dropped the body and her eyes widened.

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Sasuke watched Isaribi from his hiding place on the roof of a building. The girl was hiding behind a barrel and watching the movements of people inside a fort-like building. _The place where the government's money to be transported is._ Sasuke presumed. He watched her seem to nod to herself and disappear.

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Sakura dropped down next to Anko and Iruka. "Anko and Iruka-sensei, I have failed to find much help on finding Sasuke-kun, but I met a women that was very helpful for the mission and possibly Sasuke. She said that Kikai Island is a forbidden place. They say that anyone who goes there never returns because they've been spirited away. I believe Sasuke-kun may have been taken to the island." The pink-haired girl paused to take out a piece of paper. "I also got the instructions to the house of the only person to have come back after being spirited away."

Anko nodded. "That would make sense, though I highly doubt anyone has been spirited away. Kikai island is most likely the place of the abandoned lab. Quick, let's go see the survivor of Kikai island." Anko turned and leaped off, with Iruka and Sakura following her, following the directions on the paper.

They had been jumping for six or so minute when Anko called a halt on a branch that overlooked a beach. "Wait."

Sakura landed next to her to see what it was. "It's that girl." She said.

"What's she doing?" Anko asked. "We'll wait and watch." The three leaf nin stood on the branch and watched as the girl they met earlier, later dubbed as Isaribi by Sasuke, walked along the beach. After a bit she stopped and looked around carefully.

"She's cautious." Sakura said.

Anko nodded. "We'll follow her, carefully." The three jumped down and began to flit from shadow to shadow as the girl entered a large crack in the wall. The three hurried to follow, not noticing the ever watchful presence that sat high above them on the cliff.

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Isaribi exited the small naturally-made tunnel and walked into a pond-like area. The only entrance and exit fro the water was a break in the circular cliff that surrounded it. She kept a sharp eye out as she walked out until the water came up to mid-shin. She stopped all movement as her pupils seemed to widen and change. She formed a fist with her hand before it warped into a strange fish-like limb. Her body tensed as all the bandages were ripped off and she became covered with green scales. Her hair itself was also coated with the scales, housing a large fin on the back of her head. Under her eyes were two curves of the green that seemed to pull attention to her sad eyes. Fins sprouted on the backs of her arms and legs, leaving only her turquoise half-dress, and tan shorts to cover her body.

"That form!" A voice gasped form behind her. She turned to see the Leaf nin minus Sasuke behind her. She grit her teeth and turned to dive into the water.

Anko's eyes widened a bit as memories came back involving fish-people experiments in the labs. She grasped the curse seal on her neck as the fish girl entered the water. Sakura and Iruka immediately focused their chakra and ran along the water after the girl. "I won't let you get away!" Sakura said. Anko stayed put and closed her eyes as the memory of her standing in front of a large green-filled tube came back. Inside the tube was a girl with long hair and a body that was deformed and morphed into that of a sea beast.

"_Orochimaru-sama, what is this?" The young Anko asked. The man behind her was smirking._

"_I'll tell you." He said, "This is one of my special jutsu creation facilities. I thought I'd have you help me too."_

"_But, if the village finds out about this..." The girl was stopped when Orochimaru placed a hand on her shoulder. He had an evil smile on his face._

"_It's not working out so well. I'm almost there too..." He said, "Silly girl, there's nothing to be afraid of. What's truly frightening is to neglect the pursuit of truth." Anko turned back to the tube with fearful eyes, her body shaking._

"That girl, could she be...?" Anko asked herself, wondering if the girl she was seeing now was the same that she'd seen so long ago in the tube.

Isaribi dove underwater and sped up. Sakura was about to prepare an explosive note covered kunai to destroy the exit, when something stopped her. The earth around the exit itself dropped down, like a sluice gate, to block the fish girl. She dodged a few rocks that fell from the wall and surfaced, only to be wrapped up with ninja wire by Iruka.

"So you're the kaima?" Sakura asked, calmed down since before. She held an amount of pity for the girl because she was just like Naruto in the sense that everyone disregarded and even hated her for something that wasn't her fault.

Sasuke dropped from above the collapsed exit to look at Isaribi. The girl was looking down in shame and feelings of being hated coming back full force. "Isaribi." He said, no emotion betraying his thoughts. She just grit her teeth and slashed the wires holding her. She dove underwater as Anko stumbled up, holding on to her pulsing seal. They all watched as the water rose and formed into a mass that faintly resembled human beings. It condensed and formed into the man with the shades with his hand on Isaribi's shoulder. "Release her." Sasuke said.

"I can't do that." The man grinned. "She's an important guinea pig. If I lose her, I'll be held responsible." He made a single hand sign and the water around them began to swirl. The man and girl began to sink into the water, grinning all the way.

The man's laughing was only stopped when a powerful knee slammed into his face, flinging him backwards and causing the girl to fall over. She was caught by someone and looked up to see the, oh-so-rare, kind face of Sasuke Uchiha. "Isaribi, if you keep running, I'll have to bring you down by force." She grit her teeth and fruitlessly tried to escape. Sasuke's grip was too strong, even when her fins would cut into his arms, he held firm. He wasn't about to let one of his and Naruto's friends just run away to continue working indirectly for Orochimaru.

Anko's seal pulsed harder. _There's no doubt about it. _She thought to herself, an image flashing back of the fish girl in the tank. The seal pulsed even harder and she fell to her knees and hand that wasn't clamped over her shoulder.

"Sensei!" Sakura said, catching the snake mistress before she fell head-first into the water. She pulled her up, one arm around the woman's shoulder. Iruka moved to support her other side. "What's going on?" She asked, only to receive no answer.

Sasuke hauled Isaribi up and kept a firm hold on her shoulders. "Let's set up camp and help Anko recover. Isaribi, release your form and I'll supply bandages for you to hide your features." She reluctantly followed his orders and turned back into a human. Sasuke pulled out a roll of bandages and created a shadow clone to help bandage her up while he kept a hold on her.

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The sky overhead was dark as Sakura wrung out a washcloth and placed it on Anko's forehead.

"How is she?" Iruka asked, feeling concerned for the women's health, considering her 'known' past with Orochimaru.

"I don't know." Sakura said. "I can't tell why she collapsed earlier, though I have a suspicion that it involves the seal on her neck."

"It does." Sasuke said, drawing attention to where he sat next to a sad and lonely Isaribi. "The Curse Seal is one of Orochimaru's sick and twisted inventions. From what I understand from when she received it, she was a test subject and probably has an imperfect one. That is probably what stops her from going to the man for power. From what I heard from someone one my and Naruto's travels, it corrupts the person and draws them to Orochimaru so they can gain power. The fact that she is able to resist is because it is imperfect. But, being near to where she was discovered after she'd left with the snake, is probably bringing back the long lost memories that the snake sealed away, causing her seal to go haywire."

"You sure know a lot about it." Iruka said, eying the mark on the woman's neck.

"Let's just say we had the misfortune of running across Orochimaru's only female teammate."

"You met Tsunade-sama?" Iruka asked incredulously.

"We did, but it wasn't that pleasant as Naruto got the tar beat out of him after picking a fight and I was close to receiving one. But we were able to get some information regarding her teammates and my Sharingan deciphered her super strength so we could teach it to Sakura."

"Sugoi..." Iruka said. He broke out of his stupor when he turned to the girl. "What of the girl? She is the kaima, no?"

"She is," Sasuke said, making the girl look down in shame, though she was already looking down so she didn't move much. "But, just like Naruto, her condition was not her choice and people hate her for it. Though, I don't know why she does it, I figure it has something to do with those men and Orochimaru's lab. She refuses to talk about it."

"I see." Iruka said, sad that there were actually people like Naruto that were hated for something that wasn't their fault. It was the snake bastard's fault. Iruka swore he'd kill the snake if he got the chance for what he did to Anko and any of his other experiments. "The government money transport ship leaves tomorrow morning. We should go back to the inn."

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_Anko found herself staring at the floating fish girl again before she was back in her room, holding her knees to her chest on her bed. Her floor was half littered with books and scrolls. She stared ahead with eyes that lacked life. Monotonously she stood and began washing beakers and such that were sitting in a sink. Then her hand slipped and she dropped the bowl she was wiping off and it shattered on the floor. She bent down and began to pick the pieces up when a shadow fell over her._

"_What's wrong?" came the voice of her sensei. She looked back at him with slight fear and stuttered._

_I-I'm sorry; my hand just slipped."_

"_Really." He said._

_His gaze was disturbing so she diverted her eyes before picking the last few pieces up. "I'll clean this up right away." She said before turning to carry the pieces to a suitable disposal unit._

"_Anko." She stopped and looked back at the snake-like man. "Hokage-sama is aware of the research here."_

"_I understand." She said before walking out of the room._

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Iruka, Sakura, and Sasuke turned their heads when they heard a shuffling. Anko was sitting up. "Sensei, are you alright?" Sakura asked, concern evident in her voice.

"Hai, but more importantly, there's something I want to tell you about the kaima." She said, sitting on the wooden floor of the inn they were staying at. "Those things called kaimas were once human who's body has been modified." Isaribi just tried to make herself smaller on the small cot they'd set up for her on the floor.

"What do you mean?" Iruka asked.

"The spirited away incident that happened ten years ago wasn't because of a monster. Orochimaru was kidnapping people for the research he was conducting at the time."

"Orochimaru..." Iruka muttered under his breath. "Is he the one responsible for the incident this time around?"

"Wait a second. Orochimaru, incident, why do you bring this up all of a sudden?" Sakura asked.

"I guess I'll have to start by explaining to you why Orochimaru left the village. About twelve years ago, Orochimaru gave in to sense of curiosity and lust for power. He gradually went beyond the discipline of a shinobi and later he even began creating kinjutsu. Of course the village eventually learned of it. But Orochimaru, who had been traveling out of country often for missions, had a few facilities outside of Konoha."

"Then, one of those facilities is on Kikai Island." Iruka stated. "It was made before he went rogue."

"Then, all the people that were kidnapped..." Sakura started.

"Were used for experiments." Sasuke finished for her.

"That bastard, Orochimaru." Sakura said, half angry. "What does he think people are!?"

"Then what do we do?" Sakura asked, slightly fearing the answer.

"We crush the kaima's base." Anko said, grinning, as if it was the most obvious thing. "No need to worry, though, he abandoned it long ago and there is practically zero percent chance that we run into Orochimaru himself. Other than that, judging by our friend over here, there should only be maybe one or two experiments, if that, that we run into since the lab had probably lost a lot of needed funding.

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It wasn't long before the five found themselves in a boat rowing out towards Kikai Island.

"Ne, Anko-sensei, How did you know about Kikai Island?" Sakura asked.

"The Jonin who trained me was Orochimaru." She lowered her head. "Let me know when we get close to the island." The seal started burning against her skin again. _The pain is getting worse._

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The man with shades rose up from a pool inside of a glowing cave. He walked up to a man sitting in a chair in an adjacent chamber. The man scowled when he saw that the girl wasn't with him.

"Where's the girl, Yoroi?" The man asked, irritated.

"She was taken by Sasuke Uchiha. Amachi-sama." He said, kneeling. "His strength has been greatly underestimated."

"I see." Amachi said, rubbing his chin. "We're going to get her back one way or another. You and Misumi get one more chance. I don't care if Orochimaru-sama needs you for later, if you fail this, Yoroi Akado and Misumi Tsurugi will be names buried with this experiment."

"Understood, sir." Yoroi said before disappearing.

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Isaribi was asleep when dreams began to assault her. The first was earlier when Sasuke defended her against the children. Following that were older ones where she was completely shunned.

_She stood in front of a group of people who all seemed to be glaring at her._

"_Hey, it's her." Someone said. "I hear she was spirited away, but only she came back..." Isaribi felt tears well up in her eyes and she turned around and just run, the tears falling. She didn't care, she just wanted to get away._

Her dreams continued half of the night before she entered a dreamless state, much to her would-be relief had she been conscious.

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"Aniki!" Kumei said in an excited whisper. She looked at the form of her smiling big brother as she dropped the body.

"Do I want to know how you know how to seduce men?" He asked.

Kumei blushed a bright red. "No, you don't."

"Didn't think so. Now, let's finish of this place. We still have four Jonin and three ANBU to beat." Naruto said, grinning. Kyuubi was gearing up for the first fight she had in twelve, going on thirteen, years. Naruto crept up to the door and let his sense spread out. He sensed twenty-eight chakra sources, seven were the guards and strong, one was being concealed, and the rest were civilians. The room was a large square room that would have enough room for the prisoners to stay out of the fight. In the back corner was a small pipe that could barely fit a teenager. On second glance, Naruto felt a genjutsu covering the hole. _Probably the guards hiding the prisoner's escape route. _Naruto turned back to Kumei.

"When we rush in, wait for me to pull up Kyuubi before you go and have everyone crowd against the far wall. I don't want anyone to get stuck in the crossfire." the blond turned back to the door and grinned. _Remember, Kyuubi, only kill those with the rat skull symbol._

_**Fine, whatever, just let's get this over with!**_ Kyuubi whined. _**I needs to kill before this boredom kills me!**_ Naruto sweatdropped. He leaned back and raised his right leg before sending it crashing into the door. The metal was torn off of its hinges and flung into the room.

Inside the room was just like Naruto had sensed, but the pipe was non-existent as it was still under the genjutsu. In the middle of the room were twenty-one people huddled together. There were seven now-alert guards standing in a circle around them. Naruto didn't waste time trying to figure out the one concealing their chakra, he just let Kyuubi take over. "**Kumei, go!**" He said in a half-demonic voice. The little girl nodded and shot forward faster than one would think possible for an eight year old girl.

"Who are you!?" One guard asked as they congregated on Naruto, who just grinned.

"**Hello there. It's been a long time since I've been able to tear into flesh and bone!**" He said, laughing, scaring the ninja to no end. The red chakra cloak in the shape of a fox wasn't too calming either. He shot forward and slashed a claw at a Jonin. It was blocked before his second claw swung around and grabbed the man's arm. The man's arm was separated from his body before he knew it. He screamed when the pain set in for a second before Naruto's claws sliced through his neck. He turned and hit an oncoming ANBU in the face with the arm before disappearing and tearing a goat-masked ANBU in half with a claw on each side of the spine.

"**Two down!"** Kyuubi-Naruto said. He charged forward and kicked one ANBU in the back as a Jonin ran up onto to get backhanded. The force dislocated his jaw and knocked him to the floor where Naruto stomped on the base of his neck, breaking it. A kodachi sliced through Naruto, to reveal it was an afterimage. The man's head was crushed by a large red chakra hand. The last two Jonin, despite the small size of the room, decided to perform jutsu.

"Katon: Endan!" One yelled and blew out a significantly sized fireball. But that wasn't the main part.

"Fuuton: Kaze Ba-Suto!" The burst of wind collided with the fire and made it white hot and faster than before. It hit Naruto dead on.

"Aniki!" Kumei shouted. Only to gasp in shock when laughter came from the white bonfire. The fire dispersed to reveal a perfectly fine Naruto.

"**Sorry, boys, fire doesn't quite work on me!**" Naruto disappeared and cut one Jonin into pieces while throwing them at the other. In the confusion of limbs and body parts, Naruto swept up and decapitated the man. "**One left.**" He said as he received a sword through the chest. He fell to his knees and coughed up blood. HE turned to glare at the man before standing and grinning. "**Nice try! Too bad it failed!**" He growled out as the wound healed in front of the ANBU's eyes. That was all the shock needed for Naruto to destroy the man.

As Naruto gathered up the bodies, a man in the crowd separated and darted for the hidden pipe. He had on glasses and white/blue camouflage pants and t-shirt. His hair was short and brown. He leaped through the genjutsu and kept it up. Naruto growled at the boy before turning to the pile of corpses and burning them with a Goukakyuu.

Kyuubi receded back into the cell and Naruto winced a bit from using the fox's chakra. "Kumei, take care of them! Escorted them out with my clone!" Naruto jumped into the pipe and left a shadow clone.

Naruto crawled through the pipe that fit him better than the other man because he was smaller. But the problem was, the other man was far ahead and seemed to be _sliding_ through the tunnel on ice, nonetheless. "Two can play at that game." Naruto growled before he used his wind to push himself forward. The rough pipe was a pain but Naruto pushed through.

He was nearing the boy when he just dropped from view into an open room. Naruto just shot into the room without slowing down and flew across it. He landed on the wall before dropping to the floor and looking around. They were in a room that was at least four times as large as the previous one. There was only the pipe for an exit and the man knew it. He stood across, just under the pipe, smiling, kind of like Bokura did. He pushed his glasses up his nose and looked at Naruto.

"Glad you could make it, Naruto Uzumaki." He said.

"Who are you and how do you know my name?" Naruto asked, narrowing his eyes and preparing to fight.

"I am Ician Franz. I have drawn you to here to fight to test your limits." Ician said gesturing around them. "I remember Bokura explaining all about your fight with him. I wanted to test you myself, unfortunately, you were still in Konoha. But, when I heard you had a mission to Ame, I hurried here and integrated myself with the prisoners. And here we are." Ician settled into a stance. "I don't normally like fighting, but this is just like an all-out spar with the possibility of death on both ends. What do you say?"

Naruto grinned. "Did Bokura tell you how I kicked his ass?" Naruto settled into his own taijutsu stance. "Too bad I forgot to finish him off. Or maybe it's for the better? Maybe I can fight him again later. Tell me, how's his condition?"

Ician smirked. "Unfortunately, he's pretty beat up. Those air blasts that you did damaged his body quite a bit, not to mention your blew out his ear drums. Those were a pain to fix. All in all, he'll be ready to go in a month or so. Now, let's begin." Ician shot off at Naruto as speeds that rivaled Sasuke's. He stopped concealing his chakra and Naruto got the full view of where he sat compared to this guy. His chakra levels were almost high Jonin and would probably reach it in a month or two.

_Powerful!_ Naruto thought before he moved his upper body to the side to avoid a punch to the stomach. He brought his own fist into a upper cut that barely missed as Ician leaned back. The boy, who couldn't have been older than sixteen, kept going back and brought his foot to connect with Naruto's chin, sending him into the ceiling.

Naruto groaned when he fell and landed on his feet. _**Good job, idiot.**_ Kyuubi said to him. _**Just let me out and I'll handle it.**_ Naruto shook his head. _No, this is my fight, a test._ Kyuubi just bristled and walked back into the darkness of her cage with Tenshi giggling at her actions. "You're strong, I'll give you that." Naruto created a shadow clone and then dispelled it in order to tell the other clone to get Kumei back to safety and to tell Kakashi and Yamato not to interfere.

"Why thank you, you are too, to be able to beat Bokura. Though, that was really the Kyuubi and not you. That's why..." Ician's face became serious. "If you use Kyuubi's power in this fight, other than healing, I will kill you." Naruto nodded in understanding. Ician smiled again. "Then let's have fun!" The older boy rocketed towards the blond to begin another taijutsu battle.

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Kumei and the Naruto clone helped the last person through the hatch when the clone stopped for a second. He stood up straight and smirked. "Seems like boss has himself a spar. Come, Kumei, we need to get these people to safety." The girl glanced at him in confusion before following.

Ten minutes later, the two arrived at their hotel room. All the people had been taken to shelters until they could get their houses back. When they entered they saw Kakashi and Yamato sitting there, waiting.

"Have fun on your little, excursion?" Kakashi asked, nonchalantly.

Naruto smirked. "Of course, but I'm sure boss is having more fun in his spar right now."

"Oh?" Kakashi asked, raising an eyebrow.

"When we went to the prison, there was one person concealing his chakra. When the guards were dead, he darted away and boss followed." The clone explained. "The man is a friend of Bokura's, the guy we fought in Wave, and is testing the limits of boss's power without Kyuubi. He doesn't want you to intervene or do anything to stop them."

Kakashi sighed. "Damn blond." He muttered and the clone's eyebrow twitched. "I suppose we'll just leave him there. If he dies, I'll pull him up from hell and beat the tar out of him."

"I'll remain with you for any updates." The clone said.

Kakashi just waved it off. "Yeah, yeah, do what you want. We're going to go destroy the warehouse base now. We can go in a group."

"Good." Naruto clone said. "We can let Kumei test herself against on of the Chuunin. She's already killed one with deception, now she needs to fight directly." Kakashi would have said that wasn't smart, but he stopped himself because this was Naruto he was talking about and Kumei wasn't technically a ninja, meaning he had no authority over her. They stood up and began to prepare themselves for the upcoming raid.

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Sakura led the five as they jumped off the boat onto Kikai Island. They had landed in a stony area that had no path to anyplace else, meaning they'd have to climb or jump up the rocks.

"This way." Anko said, leading them up the large boulders. Sasuke stayed in the back, keeping an eye on Isaribi, to make sure she didn't run off.

They ended up in a forest looking at a cave. Sasuke was scanning the cave and the surrounding area with his Sharingan. "It's clear." The others nodded and they entered the cave, finding it to have a well-built stone staircase with wooden support beams to hold the ceiling up.

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Amachi was standing between Yoroi and Tsurugi. "The prototype was taken by the Leaf ninja. Get her back. I will not tolerate failure in this. They are coming here. When they get here, we will kill them. If we let this transport ship get by, we won't be able to continue to the next and my research will be postponed. If that happens, you two will die by my hands before I by Orochimaru-sama's. Now, go welcome our guests."

"Hai." The two said. Amachi grinned evilly as the two walked off to take care of the problem. His grin was replicated by the two, though on a lesser scale.

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Sakura led Sasuke and Isaribi down a dark corridor, lit only by a door that was left ajar. Anko and Iruka had branched off earlier. They approached the door and carefully pushed the door open, checking for any ambushes. The room was filled with tanks that gave off an eerie green glow. They approached the tanks to see people-shaped amphibians that seem to be asleep.

"What are these?" Sakura asked, slightly disgusted.

"Experiments that are based off of the data the men gain from Isaribi." Sasuke said, stoically, though inside he was burning with disgust and hatred. Behind them they heard a click. They whirled around but it was too late. The last thing they saw before they fell into the black abyss was the smirking face of Yoroi.

Yoroi's smirk didn't last long as he felt the edge of a kunai being pressed against his throat.

"Don't underestimate Konoha Shinobi." Anko said from behind him. The man put his hands up in surrender but regained his smile. The pink arm of Tsurugi wrapped around Anko's neck and her arm before she could move. Yoroi jumped back next to his partner. A water jet interrupted them and forced Tsurugi to release Anko, but not before Iruka came into view. The two men just smirked and shut the door, leaving the two Leaf nin inside. Outside the door, Yoroi fell into water and Tsurugi grinned.

"Ha, don't underestimate us!" Came the echoing voice of their captors. Anko grit her teeth. _Damn!_

Any further thought was stopped when the wall behind a row of glowing tanks rose to reveal glaring red eyes. From the shadows came three beasts that were twice as tall as the shinobi. By look they seemed to be giant lions, but on further examination, one could tell there was an unnatural sense about them.

"My, my, aren't these cute little kittens." Anko said with a smirk as she licked her kunai. Iruka shuddered slightly but prepared himself for battle.

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Sakura scream was heard for a short while before she shut down the instinct to do so. They fell down the long shaft and applied chakra to land safely on the ground beneath them. This ground seemed to be like dirt instead of stone and the room was large, with a few pillars to hold the ceiling up.

"Where are we?" Sakura asked. Isaribi just looked around is slight fear.

An evil laughter stopped their actions. They readied themselves and turned as a guy walked out from behind a pillar. Yoroi was grinning. "You guys are as careless as ever." He spread his arms wide. "Feel free to come at me all at once."

"I'll take this guy." Sakura said. "Sasuke-kun, you and Isaribi go on ahead."

"You sure Sakura?" Sasuke asked, though he knew the girl was plenty match for the guy now that they weren't on the water.

"Of course, go on." She flexed her hands and got into a stance that would allow her to strike from any direction if attacked. Sasuke nodded and darted off with Isaribi ahead of him.

"Wait!" Yoroi yelled before the ground rumbled. He jumped back as the place he was standing erupted in cracked earth.

"You're opponent is me!" Sakura said, grinning. This would be her first real test as a ninja.

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Iruka and a panting Anko walked out of the now destroyed room. The beast lions lay dead amidst all the broken glass and destroyed fish-person experiments. Anko's curse seal was glowing and she could feel the pain again. She stopped and placed one hand on the wall and one on her shoulder, grunting in pain. Iruka rushed up to her.

"Anko, are you alright?" He asked, supporting her under her arm. They walked ahead, her ignoring his question to a wooden door set in the wall. She opened it to look in and grinned. Iruka peeked in too but did not feel the excitement she did. _Found it._ Anko thought. They walked in to see a shadow-covered figure sitting in a chair.

"Who's there?" Anko asked, stopping. The man stood up and walked out to reveal Amachi. He had a smirk on his face.

"Welcome. Or perhaps I should say it's been a while." He said.

"You're...Amachi!" Anko said angry at the man. Iruka just stood behind, ready to fight, not knowing what was happening.

"I'm surprised you'd come back after what happened." Amachi said, shrugging.

"What do you mean?" Anko asked.

"So you don't remember."

"Sorry, but I have no use for you." Anko said. "Where is Orochimaru!?"

"Orochimaru?" The man asked, confused.

"Stop playing dumb, He's here, right?" She asked, scaring Iruka to no end.

"Wait, what?" Iruka asked, only to be ignored as Anko's seal started burning again.

"The seal can react even though the one who gave it isn't around. I guess such things do happen." Amachi said smirking to himself. "Yes, Orochimaru _was _here. But that was about two weeks ago. I don't care if you don't believe me."

"Then this tingling up till no was due to Orochimaru who was here half a month ago?" Anko asked. They were interrupted by the door banging open.

Sasuke and Isaribi walked up next to Anko and Iruka. "Sensei." Sasuke said.

"You're alright." Iruka said, overjoyed. "Where's Sakura?" HE asked when he noticed the pink-haired girl's presence.

"She's off fighting the shades guy. She'll be fine." Sasuke said, not removing his eyes from Amachi.

"Oh, leading Genin, Anko, you've grown up." Amachi said, with a deceiving smile.

"Who is he?" Sasuke asked, though it sounded like he didn't care, but he did.

"Amachi," Anko said hatefully, "The medical ninja who teamed up with Orochimaru and was experimenting here. Orochimaru isn't here. This time's incident was all his doing."

"He's the one doing all these crazy experiments..." Iruka said more than asked, voice laden with hatred.

"Crazy?" Amachi asked. "This is my life's work. Behold," He gestured to Isaribi. "She has the physical ability to adapt to water. She can, of course, breath underwater and has the speed and muscle to move freely. As the first step towards my long dream a ninja unit for underwater fights! A unit that can roam underwater freely, something no human can achieve. If it comes true, I can separate the islands and fully control the water transportation routes! Isn't that wonderful!?" He asked, excited. "I'm going to take over the world with this power! And I'm definitely going to make Orochimaru regret abandoning this research!"

"Humans aren't you tools." Iruka ground out.

"My, my, you're still naïve, I can't expect you to understand the greatness of my research." Amachi said, a bit down. "Still, I wouldn't want you guys, who only have the brain capacity of guinea pigs, to understand anyway."

"Why you..." Iruka said as he began the hand signs for the great water jet. Isaribi darted forward to try and slide in front of Amachi, only to be stopped by Sasuke firmly grabbing her upper arm.

"Isaribi." Sasuke said coldly. "Continue as you do and I will have to kill you, Naruto's wish or not. Whatever this man has promised you, he will not give. I've met people like him during my travels and they only use people like you that believe what they say."

"Isaribi stopped struggling and Iruka stopped his jutsu. "He promised me he'd turned me back into a human."

Sasuke scoffed. "It's physically impossible to turn you back into a normal human at this stage. The only person who could remotely help, which would most likely be hiding your features, would be Tsunade of the Sannin. This guy made false promises." Isaribi shuddered as realization settled in. She fell to her knees.

Amachi just grinned. "Well now, did the monster find herself a boyfriend?"

Isaribi raised her head and glared at the man through her tears. Iruka glared too. "The only monster I see here, is you!" He growled at them man.

Amachi laughed. "You're right!" He yelled, laughing all the way. "I am a monster! But I am also the future!" Everyone shivered, feeling a dread crawling up their spines.

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**Hrm, this filler arc annoys me Watching the episodes again is a hassle.**

**I might finish it next chapter :D**

**Then we get to go on to whatever the hell I decide to do after that to make the Chuunin Exams wait a bit more. Though, after next chapter, the Chuunin exams might start even with the wait...But that is not my concern at the moment.**

**Read and Review!**


	9. Coming to a Close

**OMG, sorry for posting this late. We're moving and the house has to be fixed up first. For the past two days, I've been at the house working from 10:30 AM to 6 or 7 PM so I didn't have time for much other than eating.**

**Yay! Now everything for this fic has bypassed everything on the others. Everything except most reviews per chapter, but that's pointless to try and fix as it's hardly noticeable.**

**I'm going to break away from the filler episodes because I want to get these over with this chapter.**

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**Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto or anything I take from other animes or mangas.**

**Started****: May 27, 2008**

**Worked On****: May 28, 30, 31, 2008**

**Finished****: June 2, 2008**

**Total Days Worked****: 5 Days**

**Start to Finish****: 7 Days**

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**Chapter 9****: Coming to a Close**

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Sakura rolled out of the way of Yoroi's hand as he charged. She spun around and dropped her hell onto his back. The man disappeared and a large crater formed in the ground, though it was one-third the size Tsunade could make it, it would've damaged nonetheless.

"You're a tough little girl." Yoroi said, though he was wary of the super strength the girl seemed to have. _Just like a miniature Tsunade._ He shuddered mentally at the thought.

"You'll see just how little I am when my fist meets your face." Sakura said as she charged at the man. Sakura brought both hands up above her head as she neared the Akado. He swiftly jumped to the side, just as Sakura hoped. She smashed both fists into the ground on either side to create a chain effect in either direction. She turned her head to the left to see the disrupted earth hit the man and send him into the air.

"You little bitch." Yoroi said as he wiped a bit of blood from his lips. He flipped in midair and landed on the side of a pillar. "I'll make sure you're broken mentally and physically before I kill you!" Sakura was repulsed by the idea but had little time to think about it as the man charged at her. She reared back her fist for a straight punch to the face but just as he got in range he swerved around her punch in mid flight and drop kicked her. Sakura bounced off the ground and stumbled back, hitting a pillar. She stumbled and wiped the blood from her broken nose.

_Oh god, it hurts. But I must focus, I have to win to show that I'm not some sort of fifth wheel! _Sakura jumped and placed her feet on the pillar. _Time to test this out._ Sakura gathered the chakra and expelled it, but reinforced the pillar. She launched from the stone structure at high speeds and crashed into Yoroi, fist first, carrying them to the pillar the man had jumped from earlier. They smashed into it, creating a large dent.

Sakura dropped to the ground and let out a whimper of pain. Her arms were on fire from the high speed collision and she wasn't sure that they weren't broken. "Shit!" She half-screamed. "I'm never doing that again!" She stumbled to her feet and let her arms hang. She looked at the still body of her adversary before scowling and running in the direction her teammates had gone.

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Isaribi stood shocked as Sasuke's words finally set in. _No one can fix me? I'm stuck like this forever?_ Her mind was in turmoil. She wanted to just kill herself now that hope was lost. Then, _Tsunade could help?_ She thought as the rest of his statement hit her. "You lied!" She yelled out at Amachi.

Amachi just grinned. "If you want to believe that. Just go ahead and throw away the only way for you to be fixed." The girl was divided. One half wanted to believe the man that had turned her into her current monstrous state, while the other half wanted to believe that the boy, with his blond friend, that she had met years before and treated her normally.

Their talking came to a close when Anko yelled, "Get down!" Sasuke tackled Isaribi to the ground as Anko did the same to Iruka, who was stunned by the revelations he'd heard. The wall to their left exploded with a massive force, sending rocks and dust everywhere. Anko and Iruka were passed out in what could be misconstrued as an intimate position while Sasuke placed a finger over his mouth, motioning Isaribi to be quiet.

Enough rested to reveal Tsurugi smirking. "A big hit with an explosive amulet." He said, viewing the four, or so he thought, unconscious people.

"I'll leave the rest to you." Amachi said, turning to walk out. "Send Isaribi up when you're done."

"Hai." Tsurugi said lazily. He turned his face to the ninja and grinned. "Time for some fun." The man stretched his arms out towards the unsuspecting ninja, ready to strangle them, when Sasuke disappeared in a puff of smoke, leaving a coughing fish girl by herself. Tsurugi stopped his advance. "Eh?" He said before his head was forced forward from a superhuman kick. Amachi stopped, almost outside of the room, as he saw what happened.

Amachi frowned at the new intruder. He was about to take care of her himself when a group of kunai caused him to dodge to the side and look back to see Sasuke staring intently at him. He looked back at the pink-haired girl that seemed to lack the use of her arms and sneered. He had made a minor miscalculation. The girl took off and landed a heel drop on the elastic man, hurting him to no end. He only lost because he didn't expect the unexpected.

Sasuke settled into stance while Amachi ground his teeth. "So be it." He said, calmly. "I don't have time to play with you boy, so I'll have to step this up." He clenched his hands into fists and tensed every muscle in his body. "You'll find I'm not a half monster like Isaribi over there. I am a complete product that was created for battle using her as my basis!" The man's clothes ripped, leaving only torn shorts and an open front t-shirt. His body grew scales just like Isaribi and had all the same attributes along with some of his own. He had a larger versions of Isaribi's fins, two coming down and out from his jaw, and two oval-shaped fins jutting out from what used to be his eyebrows. His solid red eyes sparkled with inhumane humor. "Now, die." The mutated scientist rocketed from his stance and landed a powerful hit on Sasuke that flung him back and into the wall.

Sasuke groaned as he pushed himself up. "You're pretty fast, but you're not match for me." He said arrogantly. He rose to his feet and made a single hand sign. "Kage Bushin no Jutsu." Sasuke was engulfed in smoke as nine more of himself appeared besides him. "Monsters like yourself are no comparison to myself." The group of Uchiha tensed their legs and jumped into the air. Each flipped through hand signs and blew out a string of fireballs.

"Ha!" Amachi laughed. "Think that will help you?" Amachi breathed in and blew a stream of water out of his mouth that doused all of the fireballs. He then spread his arms wide and back. Hundreds of needle-like scales shot form his body and hit the Sasuke bunch, causing them to go up in smoke. Amachi grin fell when the smoke cleared to reveal no one. "What the?" He asked, slowly, trying to sense the boy, only to reveal a foot to the back of the head, damaging his head fin.

"Gah! You bastard!" Amachi yelled, holding the back of his head. He shot out another pressurized cannon of water at Sasuke and grinned. Water blew away Sasuke as he turned into a puff of smoke, making Amachi drop his grin, The fish man ground his teeth. "Stop playing little games, boy." He twirled around and caught the foot that was heading his way only to gasp in shock as a sword depicting a demon lashed out. He pushed himself backwards but received a cut on his shoulder, almost disabling the limb. "Oh, that blade can cut through my scales?" He asked with false calm. "I'll be sure to give it to Orochimaru-sama when you're dead!" He swiped his left hand across the bloodied shoulder and slammed it on the ground. "Come, Umibouzu."

At first, nothing happened. Then a hole appeared in the ceiling and a stream of water ran into the place. It had a silvery tint and formed into a large water monster. Amachi was grinning as he commanded the creature forth. "Go, get rid of him!" The mass of water seemed to obey without question and swarmed to the Uchiha. When he tried to run away the water creature shot out and wrapped around the immediate area, preventing escape.

"Shit." Sasuke cursed. The water field shrunk and swallowed Sasuke whole, regardless of the Goukakyuu he fired at it. His eyes widened as he grabbed his throat in despair, he couldn't breath or move much.

Amachi laughed. "The Umibouzu is a creature made almost entirely of water. It's like a mobile water prison."

Sakura gasped as Sasuke was enclosed in the water. She wanted to do something, but her arms were useless and her legs would be of little use against the fish man's skin. She stayed to protect Anko and Iruka while trying to awaken them. It wasn't until she heard a gasp that she noticed Isaribi was gone. She turned quickly to see the girl in fish form kick the scientist away.

Isaribi stared at the man that had turned her into the monster she was. She'd be damned if he was going to kill one of the boys that helped her out and didn't view her as a monster. She turned to attack the creature with her fists and fins, only to bounce off. She growled.

"Ha!" Amachi laughed as he kicked the girl in the back, towards the water creature. "Umibouzu!" As if from the command alone, Isaribi entered the creature and, though she could breath underwater, found she could hardly move. Amachi just grinned and pulled a syringe out of his pocket. He injected it into the creature and water in satisfaction as it reach the girl.

Isaribi gasped as the liquid entered her body and forced it back into human form. She began to drown just as Sasuke was. She turned to the boy to see his body limp and his onyx eyes slowly closing. He seemed to shift slightly to look at her before hi eyes fully shut. Isaribi gasped and tried to move to the Uchiha only to fail as the thick water held her in place. _No, it can't end like this._ She thought. _I can't let Sasuke die._ The conscious world was fading from her view fast. The last thing she saw before she fell into oblivion was the grinning face of Amachi.

-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-

Naruto ducked under the foot that flew over his head in a roundhouse kick. Turning his body, he tried to attempt his own upwards roundhouse kick to the other boy's back. Ician intercepted the kick with his hand and flipped himself over the blond to land a kick to his face. Naruto flew through the air and righted himself before hitting the ground. He growled at the seemingly calm boy before him.

"Why the hell do you two bastards want to test me and Sasuke?" He growled out. "Katon: Goukakyuu no Jutsu!" Naruto yelled through his mouthful of fire as he spewed the large ball of heat towards the uncaring boy.

Ician smirked. "You interest us." Was his simple answer before sending his own water jet to put out the fire. The water, Naruto noticed, was a disgusting green color.

"Yuck, sewer water." the blond commented.

Ician chuckled. "All the more reason for you not to be hit!" Following the water jet, the Franz boy spat out a Gran Water Jet at the blond. Naruto countered with a Fuuton: Fo-Su to keep the water away. Ician just smirked farther. "To be able to go through hand seals so fast at such a young rate. I'm surprised you two haven't been promoted to Chuunin already, though I suppose the peace-loving Hokage would rather do it fairly. Understandable."

Naruto chose not to respond and just charged to attack with taijutsu again. Ician met the blond blow for blow, block for block, and they ended up on equal grounds. That is, until Naruto noticed that his body wasn't reacting as fast as before. Naruto kicked at the boy's arm and launched himself backwards to give himself some space.

"I see you've notice my taijutsu style's effect." Ician said, pushing his glasses up his nose again. How they stayed on during the fight, Naruto would never know. "For each of my attacks, I leave a bit of ice on you. Doing this, the ice gathers on the body of the enemy and slows down the nervous system, and thus, your reaction speed. Now, let's take it up another notch and see if you can handle. Hyouton: Touketsu Arano no Jutsu(Ice Style: Frozen Wasteland Jutsu)!" Ician yelled as he slammed his hands on the damp concrete. A blue glow surrounded his hands before it spread through the ground quickly, coating it with an inch thick layer of ice. Ician stood up and exhaled. "Whew, that took more than I thought, being I had to purify the water a bit. Time to go. Hyouton: Touketsu Mizu Supaiku no Jutsu(Ice Style: Frozen Water Spikes Jutsu)!" Various places in the ice started to bubbled before the melted ice launched up in loose spires of water. The water, when it reached its apex, stopped and slammed together to form a spike of ice. "Let's go!" Ician said as he moved his hands up and down to command the ice.

Naruto pushed himself to the side to avoid the ice that was attacking him. He had to keep in constant motion. J_eez, how do I get myself into these situation?_ The blond asked himself a she launched himself to attach to the ceiling.

_**You needlessly screw off when you should focus on what needs to be done!**_ Yelled the feminine voice inside his head that was the Kyuubi. Naruto just grumbled and mentally flipped the kitsune off. "Damned fox." Naruto's head erupted in pain. _**You little obscene bastard! Wait until I hand my claw on you! I'll...**_ The Kyuubi's rant was blocked as Naruto pushed her presence away. He was shocked to see a stream of water right in front of his face. With speed that was barely fast enough, Naruto threw a kunai through the water and jumped away. He turned and watched in amazement as the water clamped down on the kunai and froze, crushing the metal. "Whoa." Naruto said.

Ician chuckled. "Glad you like it. Better hope you don't get caught in it." The ice began its attack again as the blond jumped around trying to figure out something to melt all the ice at once or to defeat the user.

Unknowingly, Naruto jumped into a corner to avoid being skewered. When he looked up and prepared to jump, six spires of water came from the three surfaces surrounding him, to block him in. "Uh oh." The water froze and locked him in as others quickly approached from behind the first six. "Katon: Goukakyuu no Jutsu!" Naruto yelled in panic, sending the raging fireball through it all to melt his cage and part of the floor. He jumped away and watched as the ice began to reform itself. _I'm getting my butt handed to me! Sasuke would be laughing his ass off right now..._ Naruto ducked under an attacking spire and landed on a frozen one, trying to push off. He gasped in surprise as the spire turned back into water and his legs went right through it.

"Gotcha!" Ician laughed as the water immediately formed back into ice and clamped onto the boy's right leg. Naruto screamed out in pain as the ice shredded the muscle and, luckily, only cracked the bone.

"You bastard!" Naruto ground out as he tried to free his leg from the bloodied stalagmite. It didn't seem to want to let go. _I'm so screwed right now._

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Kakashi wiped off his kunai as he looked over to see Yamato doing the same. The copy nin eye-smiled at the ANBU turned temporary Jonin. "That wasn't quite as easy as expected. I'm down to half my chakra capacity and we still have the hardest part left. I can still sense Naruto's chakra battling the other, so he's fine. Let's go ahead and contact Pein to tell him we're going in."

"Hai, sempai." Yamato said as he cast a glance to the Uzumaki girl. Kumei was standing, panting over the corpse of a bloody Chuunin. "That girl was actually able to take down a weaker Chuunin at eight years old."

"Yeah," Kakashi said as he looked at her too. "Though, at her age, Sasuke and Naruto could have been taking down high-level Chuunin and maybe low Jonin with some luck. They trained her well. She'll be a good addition to the ninja forces." The man watched as the girl collapsed from chakra exhaustion, only to be caught by the Naruto clone that had been standing back the whole time, waiting to intervene if Kumei needed help. Kakashi turned back to Yamato. "Let's go." Yamato nodded and they, along with the Naruto clone, disappeared in a swirl of wind.

-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-

Sasuke felt a hard surface on his back and a soothing warmth that permeated the area he was in. He could here a voice. "Sasuke, Sasuke, wake up." It wasn't panicked or in a rush, calm and slightly demanding. The Uchiha pried his eyes open to see a dirty tan ceiling with pipes running through it. To his left was a cage, and beyond the cage was a screen that seemed to show what he could see through his eyes, though they were closed. He turned his head to the right to see the smiling for of Tenshi.

"Tenshi?" He asked, tiredly. "What's going on?" Tenshi motioned to the monitor.

"That monitor shows the outside world through the invisible third eye." the angel said, with a hint of sadness. "You have passed out from lack of oxygen inside of the Umibouzu. Right now, your friend, Isaribi, is in danger of the same thing. I think it's time to call on my chakra and save yours and her life. Build up the chakra and release it to get rid of the Umibouzu and put the girl in suspended animation. Her body can't take the damage that will soon be inflicted upon her. Hurry." The woman tapped her index and middle finger on Sasuke's forehead and the world around him faded.

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Amachi watched with satisfaction as his rogue prototype drowned. After all, if he needed the data to make more, he could just use his own body. His grin fell, however, when he saw Sasuke's eyes snap open. The entire eye was white except for the pupil and Sharingan tomoe. His eyes widened as white chakra exploded from the boy's body and destroyed the Umibouzu. _Such a strange power, he would make a fine specimen._

Sasuke caught the falling form of Isaribi and laid her on the ground before making a hand sign. "Kage Bushin no Jutsu." Two clones formed besides him. "Distract him." He said as a whisper. The clones nodded as the real Sasuke focused on Isaribi. He could save her with CPR, but he hadn't taken the time to learn it. Nobody else was awake, except Sakura, and she couldn't do anything with her arms damaged. _Tenshi was right, I'll have to use the suspended animation._ Sasuke left out a deep breath and began a semi-long series of hand signs, fifty in total. "Tenshi Gigei: Kakaru Anime!" Isaribi's body glowed and seemed to pale a bit. If one were to check, she would have no heartbeat. The body was a chakra creation using the void to replicate the color and texture of the body. The part of the void in usage is filled with the actual body. Inside the void, time is nothing, nothing ages and nothing can happen to anything inside. Sasuke picked up the replacement body and placed it next to Sakura. "This isn't Isaribi's real body, this is a fake while she is in suspended animation in the void. While hurting this doesn't hurt her, try to keep it safe.

"Hai, Sasuke-kun." Sakura said as she looked at the pale, almost wax-like, body. Sasuke smiled and turned back to the fish man.

"Hey!" He said, annoyed. "Stop playing with my clones, it's time to get serious." Sasuke waved his hand and the clones poofed away. Sasuke disappeared and landed an unseen kick to Amachi's right temple, sending him flying. He followed up with a knee tot he back and a heel drop right in the stomach. "Vertex Combo!" Sasuke said as he landed gracefully a few yards away from the body of Amachi. "I created it on the spot with inspiration from my training sessions."

Amachi tried to pull himself out of the ground. Normally the combo would have knocked a normal person unconscious and have broken a few ribs. Unfortunately, Amachi was a fish man and his skin was harder than normal. He had two fractured ribs and a bruised spine. Nothing will power can't overcome. "Bastard." He said, wiping a stream of blood from his mouth. "I guess I'll have to get serious too." He spread his arms wide and shot the needles out of his body again.

Sasuke just raised his arms and prepared to block with two kunai when he saw the difference from earlier. This was a three hundred and sixty degree attack. Sakura and the others were in the direct line of attack. Sasuke disappeared and flashed in front of the shocked Sakura. Sakura could have saved them with her extra chakra, but she still couldn't pull it out willingly. The needles riddled Sasuke's body. A few got passed him but they missed all the targets.

"Sasuke-kun!" Sakura said, panicking. Her teammate was a living pincushion. At least, she hoped he was living. The Uchiha fell to his knees after the rain of scales stopped. His face had been protected by his arms, but the rest of his body wasn't so lucky. The prickly body fell backwards and landed face up. Sasuke's eyes were wide with fear.

Sakura stopped and stared, horrified, at the dead body of her teammate. She ignored the surge of pain as she moved her arm and closed the Uchiha's eyes. The arm fell back down and the bone in it had probably just been shifted or broken if the pain was any indication. She let tears fall down her face.

Amachi just grinned in satisfaction. "Ah, now that the threat is gone, I'll get rid of the peanut gallery." The man stopped in his place as the kunoichi's face snapped up. There was a fire in her eyes that sent a shiver down his spine. The girl jumped and charged him, arms flailing limply behind her. She swung her leg with enough power to bruise the man even without her strength. Amachi ducked under it and tried to attack, only to have to dodge the other foot coming in a straight jab. He rolled to the side and scowled. He was forced to jump again when the first foot came back down. The girl was going like a ferris wheel. The tensing of the legs was the only notice he got as the girl disappeared and he received a punch straight from hell from behind. He barely turned in time to block with his arms, which, consequently, broke.

Amachi growled and launched a blast of water from his mouth. Sakura jumped aside to dodge but was unable to block or dodge the following punch to her head. The man swung in a circle and landed a kick to the other side of her head, reversing her trajectory. However, before she could hit the wall, Amachi appeared and kneed her in the gut before grabbing her head and bringing it to his knee. Sakura fell into the darkness with a bloody nose. Amachi threw the body aside.

"Suiton: Mizu DaiFunsha no Jutsu!" Yelled a voice. Amachi turned to see a blast of water plow into him. He flipped head over heels but was fine when he landed on the side of the wall. He looked to see the pineapple-haired ninja up and ready to fight.

"You guys are like damned cockroaches!" Amachi yelled out. His patience was wearing thin and these stupid ninja kept coming, one after another, to try and kill him. All attempts had failed so far and he wasn't about to let it succeed this time. Amachi finished the long string of hand seal he'd begun out of Iruka's sight. "Suiryuudan no Jutsu(Water Dragon Projectile Jutsu)!" A massive dragon of water crashed through the hole that the Umibouzu had entered from. Iruka was thankful that the hole didn't lead directly to the ocean, but he was not thankful for the mass of water that collided into him. "Suirou no Jutsu(Water Prison Jutsu)!" The water dragon transformed into a ball of water that held him inside.

Amachi was scowling at the Chuunin. "You Leaf ninja have been getting on my last nerve. I'm going to rid myself of you once and for all by drowning you." Amachi grinned and motioned behind the Chuunin. Iruka turned to see Anko and Isaribi were held in the prison. Sakura was unconscious and Sasuke was lying lifeless on the ground. They were in trouble.

-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-

"Katon: Goukakyuu no Jutsu!" Naruto yelled as he blasted the giant fireball at his entrapped leg. The ice broke and Naruto, with as much strength as he could muster in a single leg, shot away to land on the ceiling. "You bastard." He ground out as he tried to stop any movement that would cause him pain to his leg. He looked over to keep an eye on his opponent. What he couldn't see was that Ician was low on chakra from the ice jutsu. _Come on, what jutsu do I have that could take this guy out?_ Naruto asked himself, speeding through his jutsu dictionary.

Unfortunately, Ician wasn't going to just sit there and let Naruto try to figure out a counter. "Suiton: Rasenfunsha no Jutsu!" One of the spires of ice twisted as it turned into water and sped towards the injured blond.

Naruto's eyes widened and he went through the first set of seals that came to his mind. "Fuuton: Kaze Ba-Suto!" The pocket of wind that was expelled from Naruto's mouth collided with the spinning spear. Water sprayed all over Naruto as the attack was dispersed. _Hurry it up, Kyuubi! I need my leg to run!_

_**Keep your damn pants on! This is harder than it looks!**_ The irate fox demon replied. There was a visible red glow around Naruto's damaged leg and it was slowly rebuilding it.

"Aisu Buki no Jutsu(Ice Weapon Jutsu)!" Dual ice katana formed in Ician's hands and he broke away from his stationary position and attacked the young Uzumaki. The twin blades sliced through the concrete as the the blond tried to escape with his single leg.

The sharpened ice passed just millimeters away from Naruto's leg, slicing a clean cut through his pants. The blond landed on the wall, and almost fell off without the use of his second leg, and whipped out two kunai. With a single hand sign, five clones poofed into existence. All six Uzumakis charged forward. The real one, which had the still-injured leg, stayed back to avoid direct hits.

Ician grinned. "Fun, fun. You know a kinjutsu and can use it, as you have demonstrated before. But...can you use it well?" Ician brought his two swords down to his sides and back behind him before he tensed his legs and disappeared. The clones mimicked the ice user but kept a close circle around the real blond. Sparks flew as the frozen swords clashed against the kunai that the clones held. The dance of blades lasted for three minutes with Ician not appearing any weaker, though his breathing was slightly heavier. Naruto was down to one clone and himself. Ician slid his sword through the throat of the last clone and watched as it poofed away. "Well, Naruto, you're down to just yourself. That was a nice workout though."

_**Hey, gaki, there's only one jutsu you have that could save you right now.**_ Kyuubi said inside of his head. _You're not talking about _that_ one, are you?_ He could practically fee the fox grinning inside of his head.

_**Of course I am, blondie. Unless you want to be cut into actual fishcakes, then you'd better use it.**_ Naruto grumbled to himself. "Damn." He formed two more clones to distract the other boy.

"Clones again, Naruto?" Ician asked, slightly put out. "You should be more diverse." Ician was just taunting the blond, he could clearly see it was supposed to be a distraction while the injured one went through the hand signs for a big jutsu. He darted after the injured boy but was blocked by the pseudo-blonds.

"Sorry, but boss doesn't want to be interrupted." One of the clones said before they charged with kunai raised. Ician grit his teeth and hoped he could stop the attack.

"Prepare!" Naruto shouted as he held the last hand sign before throwing his hands out to each side.

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"Katon: Kazan Haretsu no Jutsu(Fire Style: Volcanic Rupture Jutsu)!" A voice yelled out behind Amachi. He spun around to see a tired Sasuke squatting against a wall with his hands slammed on the ground. The Genin girl was in the hands of a clone that was at the entrance of the cavern. Though, all of that was forgotten as the heat skyrocketed. The ground started to glow red in most of the cavern. The water prison evaporated and three clones grabbed the hostages and landed by the Sakura-holding clone. Amachi himself jumped up to the ceiling.

The ground cracked and split apart as molten earth rose. It bathed the cavern an eerie red and orange. The fish man was having a hard time breathing and focusing because of the heat that his body was not designed for. He tried to wearily crawl across the jagged ceiling but was stopped as a clone kicked him in the face. All of the water that was the Umibouzu evaporated and the cavern walls began to weaken. The amphibian scientist fell from the kick to the face and couldn't even fight back. He landed on a small island of earth. His breathing was labored and his pupils were constantly dilating and expanding. The island he lay on soon cracked and sank into the heat, taking him with it with no sound other than the hissing of burning scales and tissue.

Sasuke smirked at the spot where Amachi had lain and fell flat on his face near the edge of the lava pit. By now, the whole place was shaking from the weakened walls. The last loyal Uchiha stared blankly across the cavern, his eyes glowing orange from the lava. He had used too much chakra. The last thing he saw before darkness stole him was the face of a panicking Iruka.

-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-

"Fuuton: Daitaifuu no Jutsu(Wind Style: Great Typhoon Jutsu)!" Naruto yelled as winds swirled around him, forming a mini twister. The technique could drain an Elite Jonin and had taken it's toll on Naruto. He'd be able to stay conscious for a few more minutes until he was out of chakra and had to rest...or die. The winds picked up speed and shattered the ice spikes that still remained in the ground and walls. Soon the winds were at gale force and the ice that coated the floor and walls shattered and joined in the swirling death.

Ician pressed himself against the wall with eyes wide. _Even as a jinchuuriki, how can he have the chakra to use that massive jutsu in this small of a space!?_ The ice user winced at a few shards of ice cut into him. _I'm screwed._ He pushed himself into a corner and created a wall of ice to protect him.

Naruto grit his teeth as he tried to stay conscious. With a final push, he blasted the swirling winds all around, leaving massive cuts in the walls and destroying the shield that Ician had put up. The ice boy wasn't fatally injured but he wouldn't be fighting for a week or so. Naruto just let the darkness overcome and hit the ground. Ician stumbled over to him and picked him up over his shoulder. He released the genjutsu he'd been holding over a manhole above them and heaved them both out of the sewers.

-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-

Pein incinerated the body of the Kazuka leader before leaving with the Leaf nin following. "The mission is complete. Go visit Naruto in the hospital and come to my office when he is able."

"Is he okay?" Kumei asked, frightened. If her aniki was in the hospital, he had to have gone against someone 'super powerful.' As a younger sister, Kumei held Naruto and Sasuke in a light of invincibility. The idea that the blond was injured and needing medical attention scared her.

"He'll be fine." Pein said. "My clone tells me that one of his legs was shredded and the bone cracked, but the Kyuubi has been healing it for a while now. Other than that and a few cuts, all he has is chakra exhaustion. He'll be fine in two days time. So you know, Naruto won his little spar."

"Hell yeah!" Kumei yelled. "Aniki rocks!" Kakashi sweatdropped.

"At least he didn't get himself killed." Kakashi said, not taking his eyes from his orange book. "I've grown attached to the crazy blond. He's just like the stupid little brother I never had."

"Hey!" Kumei yelled, pointed at the copy nin. "Aniki is not stupid...okay maybe a little." she corrected herself.

"You'd be surprised." Kakashi muttered so only he, Pein, and Yamato heard it.

-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-

Two Days Later.

Sasuke opened his eyes to see a white ceiling. He was in a hospital. Oh, how he hated the stupid medical facilities. When he tried to move, he was a bit weak and dizzy.

"I wouldn't move if I were you." Said a voice from across the room. He turned his head to see a grinning Anko with a sleeping Iruka sitting next to her on the couch. Sakura was nowhere to be seen. "You've been out from chakra exhaustion. Enough that would have killed a normal person, apparently. You'll be fine some time after noon, they said."

Sasuke turned and looked at the clock that hung on the wall. It was five in the morning. He groaned. "Kami..." He sighed and turned back to the snake mistress. "So, sensei, how did the mission go?"

Anko grinned. "Well, whatever jutsu you did back on the island caused the whole thing to sink, destroying the lab with it. Amachi died. The money reached Kiri and the kaima is sleeping in the hotel with Sakura. The job was finished and we're ready to leave later today when you're ready to move."

"Good." The Uchiha said as he turned over to go back to sleep. "Wake me if I'm not up at noon."

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"What the hell, you knew!?" Naruto shouted at the orange-haired Jonin Boss. Pein had just informed them of the success of the mission and Naruto's fight, explaining that he knew about it from the start.

"Hai." Pein said with a smirk. "He wanted to test you, and he got his ass kicked. In any case, the mission was a success. The Kazuka gang is destroyed and the threat of civil war is gone. I'll make sure that word gets around the village of how you four helped. For Kakashi and Yamato, I would like to offer the same seal of alliance that Naruto and Kumei have, though, I don't really expect you to take it for safety reasons."

"Yeah, no offense, but I'd rather not take it since I don't know you much." Kakashi said with Yamato nodding.

"Understandable." Pein said. "As for Konoha, tell Hokage-sama that I will extend an alliance request shortly before the next Chuunin exams in a month." He handed a sealed scroll to the copy nin, who was lacking his normal orange book as a sign of respect.

"I will make sure he receives this." Kakashi said as he tucked the scroll into a pocket on his vest.

"I have no more business with you. You may leave or stay in the village another night if you so wish."

Kakashi and Yamato bowed while Naruto and Kumei waved. Naruto grinned. "See you later, Pein!" The four walked out of the office, leaving the orange-haired ninja with a slight smile.

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Sarutobi sat in his office, looking over the two new mission reports he had. Naruto's team had arrived two days ago. Sasuke's had arrived two hours ago. Their reports showed full success and mission completion. He was thankful they weren't killed. Sakura was in the hospital, having her arms fixed up. Anko had dragged Iruka off to a dango restaurant to eat a celebratory dinner. She had tried to take Sasuke too but the Uchiha had disappeared seconds after she suggested it, to go see Naruto and get the details on the blond's own mission. Yamato had returned to ANBU and Kakashi was back to being the lazy sensei he was to Team Seven. Tomorrow would be the first day that the team met after the meetings. Sakura would be fine for light training then. It turned out that the muscles in her arms were torn and the bones had a few hairline fractures. Both teams had received full payment for an S-Rank mission and they couldn't have been happier.

"Damn, I don't care about our agreement, I'm not letting those two go on S-Rank missions anymore unless they are together and both Chuunin. Though, that could be sooner than we all think. If Kakashi enters them in the upcoming exams, they'll surely pass. That is, if the judges aren't prejudiced against Naruto." He put aside the two reports and pulled out the letter from the Ame Jonin Boss. It was asking for an alliance. The terms were more in Konoha's favor, no doubt to give more reason to accept. Sarutobi had sent out a messenger the day before after he'd had a meeting with the council. After reviewing Naruto's mission and the request, they'd accepted with just under a two-thirds vote. "He'll be entering a few of his Genin into the Chuunin Exams. And, as an act of good faith, he'll open trade with us even without the alliance. Naruto is more help to this village than he knows."

Next he pulled out a separate medical file. "Sasuke brought back the Isaribi girl. Her lungs and injuries have been healed and she'll be released in a few days, but in order to fix her scale problem, we'd need Tsunade. I'll call for Jiraiya to go search, but I don't know if he could find her. For now, we'll just say she has very bad burn scars. After the six month surveillance is over, we'll induct her into our forces, if she wishes. Those two boys are a great help for Konoha, but are a big pain in my ass when it comes to paperwork." The old man sighed and started back on the pile of papers on his desk that needed his signature and approval.

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**Name:** Hyouton: Touketsu Arano no Jutsu _Ice Style: Frozen Wasteland Jutsu_

**Rank****: A-Rank**

**Description:** Ice covers the ground and any non-living objects all around the user.

**Notes:** The area of effect is relevant to the amount of chakra used.

* * *

**Name:** Hyouton: Touketsu Mizu Supaiku no Jutsu_Ice Style: Frozen Water Spikes Jutsu_

**Rank****: A-Rank**

**Description:** Used in combination with Frozen Wasteland. The ice melts in certain spots and water erupts from it. The water condenses into ice when five feet off the ground.

**Notes:** The distance off the ground and amount of water is relevant to the amount of chakra used.

* * *

**Name:** Aisu Buki no Jutsu _Ice Weapon Jutsu_

**Rank****: C-Rank**

**Description:** Form any weapon you've seen out of ice to use.

**Notes:** Density and length of ice is relative to the memory and temperature.

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**Name:** Katon: Kazan Haretsu no Jutsu _Fire Style: Volcanic Rupture Jutsu_

**Rank****: S-Ran**k Forbidden

**Description:** Super heats the ground and creates a large magma pit with random earthen clumps to stand on.

**Notes:** Uses massive amounts of chakra.

* * *

**Name:** Fuuton: Daitaifuu no Jutsu _Wind Style: Great Typhoon Jutsu_

**Rank****:** S-Rank Forbidden

**Description:** Creates a massive swirling typhoon around the fighting area that tears apart anything it can.

**Notes:** Forbidden for using three-quarter the chakra that an elite Jonin has.

* * *

**Well, that was a difficult chapter to write... Writing fight scenes is definitely not my thing.**

**Oh well, sorry for the late update.**

**Read and Review!**


	10. The Forest of Death

**Jesus Christ, I was so late on even starting this chapter...**

**I was going to have this chapter be mostly a short training trip and retrieving some object for a mission, but I decided against it, since I couldn't get it right to type. So this will just skip right to the Chuunin Exams! :D**

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**Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto or anything I take from other animes or mangas.**

**Started****: June 8, 2008**

**Worked On****: June 10, 2008**

**Finished****: June 16, 2008**

**Total Days Worked****: 3 Days**

**Start to Finish****: 9 Days**

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**Chapter 10****: The Forest of Death**

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"Let's go and get this over with." Naruto said. He and the rest of team seven were walking down a street in Konoha. They had returned from their S-Rank missions two weeks prior. Since then, they been stuck with training and C-Rank missions. Both Naruto and Sasuke had learned a new jutsu, but neither of them were forthcoming with what it was. They claimed that their tenants wanted it a complete secret. Eventually they all gave up trying to get it out of the duo.

Currently, they were heading towards the training grounds for a meeting that Kakashi had called. They didn't know what he wanted, but they hoped it would be something useful, especially if he made them wait a few hours like normal.

"Yeah, I wonder what he called us for in the middle of the day for, anyways." Sakura said, her arms behind her head. "It had better be important or he will find out why men fear Tsunade!"She added in, punching her palm to add to the felling.

"Eh, doesn't matter." Naruto said. "You can't teach an old dog new tricks."

"No, but you can sure as hell get rid of the old ones." The Uchiha chipped in. "At the least, if it's not important, we can prank him later on."

Sakura looked at Sasuke strange, he would _never_ suggest pranking or help in it, as far as she knew. She was stopped from responding by a yell and a grunt around the corner of the road. They nodded to each other and sped up. They rounded the corner to see a man in a black, cat-like suit holding up a small child with a helmet and a long scarf. Behind him was a blond girl with four pigtails and a large metal fan.

"You little brat!" the man yelled. "I'll teach you to respect you elders."

"Kankuro, put the kid down. It's more hassle than we need right now." The girl behind him said, though she didn't seem too concerned.

"It would be wise to put the boy down." Kankuro looked to see the three ninja and pinpointed the black-haired boy as the speaker.

"Stay out of our business." He said. "I'm teaching this kid a needed lesson in respecting his elder and watching where he's going!"

"You couldn't teach an academy student how to run!" Naruto yelled. He clenched his fists and flared his killing intent. Kankuro's eye widened and he dropped the boy while backing up. He stopped next to the girl when a swirl of sand appeared in the middle. The sand cleared to reveal a boy with red hair and a massive gourd on his back. He had a tattoo for 'love' on his forehead and black rings around his eyes from lack of sleep.

"I apologize for my sibling's actions." He said in a dead voice. "You're killing intent is impressive. You're powerful and will sate mother's thirst." The boy flared his killing intent. Unlike Naruto's, which rolled out in waves, this boy's killing intent seemed to flood out and crash over anyone and everyone. Sasuke and Sakura were unnerved and shivered along with the two behind the boy. Naruto seemed perfectly fine.

"Decent." The blond said before he flared his killing intent to the max and focused every single bit on the red-headed boy. His own KI fell as his eyes widened and he took a step back. "You are powerful, yourself. My name is Naruto Uzumaki, this is Sasuke Uchiha and Sakura Haruno. What are you names?"

The redhead collected himself and glared at Naruto, though it seemed completely natural on his face. "I am Sabaku no Gaara. These are my siblings, Sabaku no Temari and Sabaku no Kankuro. We're going." the boy turned and left, his siblings following behind.

"They were from Sand." Sasuke said.

"They're probably here for the Chuunin exams." Naruto said, grinning. "I can't wait for our own Chuunin exams, especially if there are people like Gaara in them!"

Sakura groaned. "Naruto, the boy wasn't even normal. There is something odd about him."

Naruto went into a thinking position as they continued towards their training grounds. _There was something off about him. It was weird. I wonder what it could have been._ He heard a bark inside of his head.

_**Kit, that was the Ichibi no Shukaku. The boy, Gaara, is a jinchuuriki like you.**_ Naruto's eyes widened and his mind began to race at the chances of it happening and the possibilities of fighting the boy.

They arrived at the training grounds a few minutes later. Kakashi was no where in sight. Sakura was about to curse the man hen eh surprised them by appearing. He eye-smiled. "Yo!" He said. "I haver a surprise for you three and decided I didn't want to wait for it." He reached behind his back and pulled out three papers. "I've signed you up for the next Chuunin exams in three days!" He opened his up curved eye to see the reactions of the Genin. Sasuke was, predictably, smirking with desire to fight sparkling in his eyes. Sakura gave her own smirk, pulled her gloves tighter and flexed her arms. Naruto however...

"You're my hero, sensei!" The blond proceeded to lunge at the white-haired Jonin. Kakashi's eyes widened and he nimbly dodged to the side, causing the hyper Genin to crash, face first, into the bridge.

"Sorry, I don't roll that way, Naruto." The Jonin said, pulling out his famous orange book. Sakura giggled and Sasuke let out a chuckle.

"Naruto is just happy that he may get the chance to fight the Sand Genin, Gaara of the Desert." Sasuke explained to Kakashi's unasked question.

_Gaara of the Desert?_ Kakashi asked himself. _That's the Ichibi jinchuuriki. I can see why he'd desire to fight him._ "Well then, report to the academy, room three-oh-one, in three days at ten in the morning. Be sure not to get yourselves killed!" He said at the end, eye curving up. He waved and disappeared.

"Yatta!" Naruto yelled. "Come on, Sasuke! Time to train!" He said as he grabbed the Uchiha's arm and dragged him away. Sakura watched the two shoot off into the distance and sighed. She'd have to work on her new idea.

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Three days later brought Naruto and Sasuke to the entrance of the academy. They waited as they spotted a pink spot coming up the road. Sasuke smirked and Naruto broke out into a grin as Sakura landed in front of them. "Sakura-chan! We can go in now!" The blond shouted as he led his two teammates into the building. They hunted out the stairs and went up to the second floor. What they saw made them sick. There was a mass of Genin standing in the middle of the hall, surrounding a single door that was labeled three-oh-one. None of them seemed to realize that they were only on the second floor or that there was a genjutsu over the sign and the two Genin blocking the door.

Naruto and Sakura looked at Sasuke expectantly. He just sighed and motioned to go on. With speed no Genin ever displayed, the three appeared at the other end of the hall, stopping all of the idiots from seeing. All but one Hyuuga prodigy.

Neji Hyuuga narrowed his eyes and signaled to his two teammates that it was time to go. Neji had on a tan shirt with a large collar, blue shorts, and had his right arm and leg bandaged. His eyes were the pure white of the Byakugan eye, and his hair was long and brown, tied into a ponytail at the bottom. A girl in a pink Chinese-style shirt and dark blue ninja capris, and a boy in a green jumpsuit with orange leg warmers and his headband fashioned as a belt followed the Hyuuga. The girl, Tenten, had her brown hair up in two buns and was a weapons specialist. The boy, Rock Lee, had a bowl cut hairstyle, big bushy eyebrows, and large round eyes. He was a taijutsu specialist and looked like a total freak.

"Idiots." Sasuke mumbles as they turn a corner. At the end of the corridor was a large set of double doors and in front of it was none other than Kakashi Hatake, leaning against the wall.

"Glad you three could make it!" He said, eye-smiling and waving. "If only two or even one of you showed, I would have had to refuse you entrance."

"What?" Sakura asked, surprised. "Why didn't you tell us this yesterday?"

Kakashi shrugged. "If I had told you, you might have pressured each other to enter. Not to mention that I knew you three would come anyways, since you're the most powerful Genin we have in the village."

"Got that right!" Naruto claimed, grinning. "Come on guys, let's go and pass this thing!" The blond walked up and threw the two doors open before leading his team in. When their eyes adjusted to the lights, they saw a mass of Genin from various villages, and they didn't seem to be too happy.

"Well, well, look who made it here." A lazy voice intoned as it approached. Naruto saw Shikamaru and Chouji walking towards them. Shikamaru Nara was slouching and seemed like he didn't even want to be there. Chouji Akimichi was eating out of a bag of chips like it was a lifeline. The third person of the team seemed to be absent. Or so he thought.

Sasuke felt the presence approaching him and he moved just in time for Ino to miss in her attempt to latch onto the Uchiha's arm. "Sorry Ino, I still avoid physical contact." He said as the girl regained her balance and pouted. She remembered all the times in the academy when she and the other fangirls tried to sit by him and hug him and everything. He managed to avoid it every time with the help of a certain blond boy.

"So all the rookies are here!" Came a loud voice. They turned to see the last of the rookie teams approaching. The speaker was a boy with a gray hooded coat who had a small white dog sticking out of the collar. The boy had two red triangles on his face and was very feral in appearance, he was Kiba Inuzuka. Behind him was a boy in a large, light gray overcoat. He had spiked brown hair and black sunglasses that hid his eyes from view, he was Shino Aburame. Next to Shino was a girl with a beige coat and dark blue ninja capris. Her hair was a very dark lavender color and her eyes were completely white. She was the heiress of her clan, Hyuuga Hinata. She was shy beyond anything else and lacked self confidence. Kiba smirked at his once-fellow students. "Hey, even the dobe made it!" He said pointing at Naruto.

"You'd be surprised how powerful this 'dobe' is." Sasuke butted in. "All through the academy, we had him faking his scores to be the deadlast so we could be on the same team. It would be wise to drop all that you know of Naruto's abilities and be wary of him."

"This coming from the rookie of the year." Kiba grinned. "Wait and see when I beat both of you into the ground!"

The reunion was halted by an unfamiliar voice. They turned to see a white-haired ninja coming up. He had on gray ninja clothes with purple parts. He had glasses that appeared to help his vision, though ninjas are based on deception and it could very well be a trick. "You guys should be quiet. The Genin in here was very irritated and it isn't wise to anger them more. I'd know how angry they can get."

"Who are you?" Sasuke asked bluntly.

The boy rubbed the back of his head sheepishly. "My bad, my name is Kabuto Yakushi, and this is my seventh time taking this exam."

"Shows how hard this is," Shikamaru stated. "troublesome."

"If this is your seventh time, then you must know some things about the exam." Sakura said.

"Of course. I have info on everyone participating, even you nine. But, the exams changes each time, so I could only tell you that the last part is one on one battles." Kabuto said as he pushed his glasses up and pulled out a desk of cards. "These are my ninja info cards. Since you are all rookies, I suppose I can help you out a bit. Is there anyone you want information on?" He asked.

"Sabaku no Gaara." Sasuke said without a second thought. Kabuto was about to pull out a card when another voice came.

"How about all of Team Seven?" A voice chirped. Everyone turned to see an almost-man with a long black ponytail, black muscle shirt, and black shorts. His eyes shone a vibrant green and both Naruto and Sasuke inhaled sharply.

"You!" Naruto almost yelled. "Add Bokura Takara to the list too!"

Kabuto raised an eyebrow. "Geez, curious little Genin." He pulled out five cards from the deck and separated one. He focused his chakra into it and the blank card was filled with data. "First, Gaara of the Desert. His teammates are his siblings, Sabaku no Temari and Kankuro. His sensei is Baki. There doesn't seem to be any information about his abilities but his mission specs are: twenty-seven C-rank missions, 2 B-rank, and even one A-rank mission. Theres a note that says...wow! He's never been hurt during a mission!" He pulled out three more cards as the rookies muttered amongst themselves.

"First of Team Seven, Sakura Haruno. Teammates: Naruto Uzumaki and Sasuke Uchiha and her sensei is Kakashi Hatake. Her stats aren't great but she shows great chakra control and the potential for genjutsu or medical work. Her strength is said to be high, similar to the slug Sannin, Tsunade's. She has done: twenty-one D-rank missions, one-C-rank mission, one A-rank Mission, and even participated in an S-Rank mission. Wow! Next, Sasuke Uchiha. He seems to be low Jonin level in overall strength! Amazing for a Genin! He has high ninjutsu and mid-level genjutsu and taijutsu. He is very adept at fire jutsu. He has done: twenty-one D-rank missions, three C-rank missions, three B-rank missions, two A-rank missions, and one S-rank mission! A Genin team doing an S-rank mission, that's unheard of! Last but not least, according to this, Naruto Uzumaki. He is the same level as Sasuke and has high ninjutsu, no genjutsu, and mid-level genjutsu. He is adept as using wind and water and is close to mastering wind elemental manipulation. His missions specs are the same as Sasuke's."

"W-What!?" Kiba sputtered. "How is it possible that they're so strong as Genin!?" Team Seven's reply was to smirk in unison.

"We're just that good, mutt." Naruto said, sticking his tongue out.

"How can someone that acts like that, be so strong?" Shikamaru whispered to Chouji. The Akimichi boy just shrugged, but was interested.

"Finally, the last, Bokura Takara. His teammates are Ician Franz, and Aura Takara. His sensei is unlisted. He has very high ninjutsu, and high taijutsu. He has fully mastered wind manipulation and is an ex-Suna nuke-nin! He has done: twenty-five D-rank missions, ten C-rank missions, five B-rank, fourteen A-rank, and whoa...three S-rank missions." Kabuto was looking at the card in shock.

"We're so screwed." Shikamaru muttered. Ino punched him on the head. "Troublesome women."

"There can't be Genin that strong!" Kiba yelled in outrage. "It's just not possible!"

"Kiba..." Shino began. He continued when he got the dog boy's attention. "For one, Naruto-san and Sasuke-san have been training since the age of five. Bokura-san is an ex-nuke-nin. You don't have a chance to go up ranks when you're not part of a village." Kiba turned around, grumbling.

"Competition is fierce." Lee said from besides Neji. They were standing a short distance away and listening. Neji frowned. _Low Jonin level? How is that possible. He must be over exaggerating. If they go up against me, they are fated to lose._

"Hey!" yelled a voice from inside of a fresh cloud from an explosion up on stage. "Pipe down and come get a ticket for your seats! I'm Ibiki Morino and it's time for the written exam and you're in for a world of hurt!" The room was filled with groans. "QUIET!" The man bellowed.

**(A/N: Blah blah, the First Exam, blah blah. I hate the first exam and cannot bring myself to write it. It happens basically the same as Canon except Naruto and Sasuke get the answers from their tenants.)**

Everyone was shook from their seats as the window shattered and a white ball flew through the window. A cloth spread out from the ball and was pinned to the ceiling with kunai knives. A woman stood in front of the banner with her hands on her hips and a dangerous glint in her eyes. "Quiet maggots! I am Anko Mitarashi and I'm the second proctor!" She stopped and looked around the room before frowning and turning back to Ibiki behind the banner. There's still eighty-one Genin! You must be getting soft." She said.

Ibiki grunted. "Or there are just a bunch of brats with potential." He responded.

"That won't matter anyways. By the time I'm done with them, the number will be cut down to less than half!" That got a bunch of the Genin shivering. "Follow me to Training Grounds Forty-Four!" She jumped back out the window and a few Genin followed her. Other choose to walk out the door and followed from there. Naruto jumped out of the window enthusiastically with Sasuke and Sakura following him, shaking their heads.

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Team Seven found themselves standing outside of a large chain link fence. Inside the fence were massive trees and sounds of just as massive animals. All of the Genin were standing around a shack, on top of which was Anko.

"Welcome to Training Grounds Forty-Four! Or, more commonly know as, the Forest of Death!" A loud screech and crash came from the woods behind her and she broke out in maniacal laughter.

"Ha!" A voice yelled out. "My little sister is scarier than this!" Naruto shouted. Everyone turned to look at the blond like he was insane. Anko grinned and threw a kunai at him. The sharpened piece of metal flew through the air quickly and, truthfully, Naruto could easily dodge it. However, he just stood there and let it cut his cheek without moving an inch or dropping his smile. As soon as the cut was made, Naruto bent his arms up and behind his head. Two soft mounds fell into them as a tongue snaked its way across his bloodied cheek.

Anko's eyes widened when she appeared and the boy had his hands on her breasts. She grinned and continued her action and licked the blood off of her cheek. "Getting a little feisty, are we? Maybe when you're older, drop by." She quickly pulled out a kunai and swung it around to hold at the neck of a Grass nin. His/her tongue was snaking out of his/her mouth and holding a kunai. "Don't sneak up on me like that, you may just lose your head." Anko said, grinning.

"Sorry," The Grass nin said. "I was just returning your kunai. It cut a bit of my hair off and made me get a little excited." Anko just shivered internally and smirked outwards. She took the kunai and pulled out a stack of paper.

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Two red slitted eyes opened. All around it was darkness. Slowly, two more sets of slitted red eyes opened. They stood in a triangle formation, looking at each other. The first set of eyes, which were significantly larger than the other two rose a little and a voice came from their position.

"They are in the Forest of Death." It began. By it's voice, one could tell it was male. "They are away from help and ripe for the plucking. We will send squad eight in to do the deed."

"Lord, what of the Haruno, the ice boy, and the Takara girl? They will certainly try to interfere." Asked one of the smaller eyes, also male. "I do not believe squad eight would be able to achieve this by themselves."

The lead set of eyes closed in consideration. "I see your point, Raj. Send squad seven after the Takara and squad eight after team seven. If they cannot handle it, then that is their problem. But, we will eliminate them soon...Saiya, prep the squads and send them out immediately. Tell them to kill the entire team and the 'snake' if they come across him."

"Hai, lord!" The female eyes disappeared to do the job.

"We'll have you yet, Kyuubi." The first voice said as he gave an evil chuckle. The second male joined in and soon, the female returned, though she did not seem to find any mirth in it.

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Team Seven had entered the forest two hours ago and they already had their second scroll. An Ame team had attacked them to see if the rumors were true about them back in Amegakure. They were not disappointed with what they found, until they lost their scroll, that is.

Naruto halted on his branch and Sasuke and Sakura did the same.

"What's up, Naruto?" Sakura asked, looking around carefully.

"Someone is approaching us." The blond said, glancing around. "But I can't pinpoint his location. No Genin should be able to do that. The chakra seems like a dam, holding back a flood of water. Whoever this person is, they are compressing their chakra a lot and hiding it well."

"Keep a sharp eye out." Sasuke said. They began moving again.

When they passed over a clearing, Sasuke's Sharingan caught movement to the side and he pointed it out. "There!" A massive wind blew in from the side and was on a collision course with the Konoha Genin.

"A Fuuton: Daitoppa!" Naruto said as he went through the hand signs for his own. "Fuuton: Daitoppa no Jutsu!" Naruto send a wave of wind at the opposing one and they canceled each other out. Naruto raised an eyebrow at that. "That attack was strong enough to cancel mine out. We're not going up against a Genin." The blond said as he surveyed the other side of the clearing.

"Very observant, Naruto-kun." A voice said and a Kusa Genin walked into the clearing. "You're explanation about my chakra earlier proved quite true also. Now, let's see if you can handle it!" The Genin pulled down on his her eyelid and team seven froze. The killing intent was so much. Sakura was seeing herself dying over and over. Sasuke was still aware of his surroundings but he could barely push down the visions of his death. Naruto, however, was use to Kyuubi testing her KI against him and, just like with Gaara, wasn't phased. The Kusa girl's eyes seemed to glint at that. "Oh, I see you're powerful to resist KI like that."

"You'd be surprised what kind of killing intent I had to put up with in my training. Even you would be shaking in your zoris if you felt it." Naruto said, his eyes hard and his goofy side gone. Sasuke broke out of of his funk at the moment and pinched Sakura's arm to break her out. Her eyes lost their glazed look and she focused back on the real world. She shivered at the visions she'd seen.

"So powerful!" The girl said and was almost drooling, though Naruto could tell she was watching Sasuke and not him.

"Sakura." Naruto said. The girl understood the meaning and acted. She sent her fist crashing into the ground, creating a rupture that fast approached the grass girl. Her eyes widened and she jumped into the air and onto a tree branch.

"Let's have some fun!" She said. The foreign Genin jumped off o the tree and sent a lightning fast kick as Sasuke's head. The Uchiha blocked it with his forearm and grabbed the incoming fist. He sent a kick to her gut, which she couldn't block, and sent her flying into a tree.

"Naruto!" He called out and began his hand signs. "Katon: Goukakyuu no Jutsu!" He raised his hand to his mouth and expelled the large fireball that the Uchiha were known for.

"Fuuton: Kaze Ba-Suto no Jutsu!" Naruto blew out his own blast of wind and forced it to collide with the fireball, creating a raging, white inferno. The fire ball crashed into the tree with the Genin and burnt it and those around it to a crisp. They waited with bated breath.

They heard a grunt from within the flames and the girl walked out, with parts of her face melting off to reveal slightly charred skin, sort of like a sunburn. "Kukuku, it seems I underestimated the power of that attack." The voice was no masculine. The girl reached up and pulled the face off, revealing a male with long black hair and yellow eyes.

Naruto and Sasuke's eyes hardened into glaciers when they same him. "Orochimaru!" Naruto ground out. He and Sasuke had left a lot on missions when they were younger and decided to read the Bingo Book every time a new issue came out, in case they came across any. Orochimaru was up in the top twenty, along with Itachi Uchiha.

"Oh, a Genin knows of me, I must be getting quite the reputation. Let's kick this up a notch! Kuchiyose no Jutsu(Summoning Jutsu)!" The snake did a few hand signs and slammed his hand on the ground. A large seal spread out from under his hand and a cloud of smoke erupted around him. When ti cleared, it showed that the Sannin was now standing on the head of a gigantic snake. "Let's go! Seneita'jashu(Hidden Shadow Many Snake Hand)!" Orochimaru threw his sleeves forward and hundreds of snakes burst forth from them to attack the Genin.

Naruto created a Kaze Yaiba and started slashing at the snakes with his invisible sword. Sasuke pulled the Oni sword from a scroll and cut them while burning the reptiles with the occasional fire jutsu. Sakura smashed them away with his fists, though they were coming pretty fast.

"Ugh, I hate snakes!" Naruto yelled. He went to use his great typhoon jutsu in his anger but was stopped when the snakes split and the large snakes crashed into him, mouth first, swallowing him.

Sasuke's eyes widened slightly when the snake ate the blond and then he heard Sakura give a yelp. He turned to see a snake biting each of her wrists. "Shit!" He disappeared and appeared by Sakura. She was unsteady on her feet for a few seconds before the poison in the snake circulated enough and she passed out. Sasuke sped through hand seals faster than Orochimaru could see. "Tenshi Gigei: Kakaru Anime!" Sakura's body glowed and her skin paled slightly. Sasuke grabbed her and sped away at speeds that Orochimaru could not follow from not expecting it.

Orochimaru growled. "After them!" He ordered his snake. However, the snake didn't moved. The Sannin looked down to see the snake's eye glaze over in death before it disappeared in a puff of smoke. He flipped and landed on his feet a few yards away from the snake saliva-covered Naruto.

"Orochimaru, I'm going to kill you." Naruto growled out. He started to pull on Kyuubi's chakra. Normally he wouldn't rely on such a thing, but Orochimaru was a different case. The red chakra covered him and the saliva evaporated. A few cuts and bruises he had healed. His eyes changed red and became slitted as his teeth and fingers grew into fangs and claws. His whisker marks darkened considerably. "**Time to die!**" Naruto shot forward and punched the snake Sannin on the jaw, breaking it and sending him back.

Orochimaru bounced across the ground and smashed into a tree. He groaned and forced his shoulders back into their sockets before he stood and glared at the possessed boy. A single red tail of red chakra flitted about aimlessly behind the boy. "Boy, you're annoying me, now!" He was wondering why the boy wasn't attacking when the ground below him rumbled. He jumped and twisted his body in a way that would normally break the spine to avoid a giant red claw of chakra. He sped off towards the blond at an immeasurable speed. His tongue lashed out and wrapped the boy around the neck, lifting him off of the ground and raising his shirt to expose his stomach. "We'll see how you do without Kyuubi to help you!" He pulled his hand back and each finger glowed with a different element. "Gogyou Fuin!" His hand was heading towards the seal that held the Kyuubi and his head shot towards Naruto's neck, fangs bared.

Orochimaru screamed out in pain as his tongue and fingers were severed before he could hit Naruto with the jutsu. However, his head and reached the boy and he'd bitten his on the neck. His abnormally shaped neck retreated with the body and head before reforming back to normal. Three curve marks appeared on Naruto's neck(The same as Kimimaro) where he was bit and he screamed in pain before he passed out. Sasuke was shocked. "What did you do, hebi-teme(snake bastard)!?" Sasuke yelled and he turned around.

"This!" The Uchiha was in mid turn when the Sannin sank his fangs into his neck as well. He screamed in silent agony as three commas formed. He too passed out as the seals set to work on the boys.

-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-

Naruto found himself in the sewers of his and Sasuke's shared mind. He entered the door that would lead them to their tenants and found red chakra flaring about the ceiling. "What's going on!?" He asked, slightly panicky.

Kyuubi grunted before she looked at him. "The hebi-teme bit you and put a Curse Seal on your neck. I'm working to corrupt it to my own power and destroy his essence in it." All of a sudden white chakra flared up and Tenshi began to work just as Kyuubi was.

Sasuke entered the room not long after and asked the same question as Naruto but in different form. "What the hell?"

Tenshi turned to her host. "Orochimaru gave each of you a Cursed Seal. It stores a large amount of corrupt chakra that tops even Kyuubi's in vileness. Within that is an essence of Orochimaru which would allow him to corrupt your mind and turn you to him for power. I am purifying your and Kyuubi is corrupting Naruto's. After this, they will store about one tail of chakra of our own for use whenever you feel like it. Though, because of the seal, it will be condensed and more powerful than normal." The white chakra stopped flaring and a stream of it remained. She fell onto her rear on a couch. "That was taxing. I've purified it and am now filling it. Naruto's will take longer because of the different process."

"Sasuke," Naruto said, the black-haired boy turned to his surrogate brother. "Wake up as soon as you can and get all three of us to safety." Sasuke nodded and turned to Tenshi. She smiled and waved her hand. Sasuke faded from the mindscape and Naruto sighed.

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Sasuke jolted awake and put his hand to his neck where there was a dull ache. He twisted his head to see the three commas were now white. He grunted as he tried to stand. His body was sore from the seal and the fight. He created two Kage Bushin and had one carry Naruto while the other retrieved Sakura. He slowly led the two bushin through the forest and found a tree with gnarled roots that formed the perfect hideout. They entered and he laid his team mates out.

Sasuke fell on his rear and leaned against the wall, trying to stay awake. His body wanted to sleep but a groan from the back of the cave alerted him. He turned to see Naruto sitting up.

"Sasuke, I can sense someone. They're in trouble, they ran across Orochimaru." He groaned and leaned on his hands.

"How can you sense someone like that? He has to be at least a mile away by now." Sasuke asked, relieved that Naruto was okay.

"It has to be the Curse Seal. Since yours was purified, you probably can't feel it, but Kyuubi just converted everything to herself for mine." He closed his eyes and focused. It took a few minutes but his eyes snapped open. "It's Anko! She's in danger! I'll be right back, Sasuke!" The blond groaned as he stood and rushed out of the cave into the forest.

It took Naruto four minutes in his weakened state to traverse the mile to find the Second Exam proctor lying on a branch. Her body was badly bruised and she was sweating heavily so there was probably a poison, knowing Orochimaru. Her breathing was erratic and her eyes were focusing and unfocusing rapidly. Naruto, thinking quickly, landed beside the woman and began a set of hand signs. "Tenshi Gigei: Shougai Tensou(Angel Arts: Injury Transfer)!" Naruto sent his chakra into the wounded woman and began to sense out the injured areas and isolating them with his chakra. It took him three minutes to track down all of the poison before he began to pull it to himself. _Kyuubi, incoming injuries!_ He yelled mentally. He groaned soon after as he felt the bruises and the poison. Kyuubi immediately set to work and easily isolated the just-transfered poison before eradicating it.

Naruto sighed as the woman's breathing slowed down and her eyes closed. But his relief was short lived as a sudden pain in his shoulder erupted. It burned just as bad as when Orochimaru gave him the Cursed Seal, but this time it didn't stop and he didn't pass out. _W-What's h-hh-happening-ing, K-Kyuubi?_ He tried to ask his tenant. _**Naruto! Anko had a Cursed Seal and it transfered over with the injuries! This one, however is old and I cannot corrupt it. Thankfully, it is a prototype of Sasuke's and Orochimaru's presence is absent. Just bear through the pain or knock yourself out, it should last only for another minute or so as it aligns itself with your chakra system. I'll created a barrier around it that will prevent it from messing with your mind or even trying to activate against your will.**_

Naruto grit his teeth and tensed every muscle in his body. _T-thank, K-Kyu-Kyuubi._ The blond felt like his body was on fire and he was doing all he could to hold back the screams. It was then that he saw Anko awakening.

Anko felt herself returning to the conscious world, and feeling better than she ever had in her life. The first thing she noticed, was that she no longer had any bruises from her fight. She pushed herself to her feet and was amazed. Never had she felt so free! She turned around when she heard a grunt, kunai out. When she saw Naruto she was confused but her eyes were drawn to his neck where two curse seals sat. The back one was red and was sitting there but the front one was purple and pulsing. She gasped and it hit her. She moved her hand to her own neck and craned her head to look and found it was gone. She returned her attention tot eh boy and noticed his pain. His entire body was tense and his eyes focused on her. She was going to approach him when he opened his mouth and let out a scream.

Naruto felt a fresh wave of immense pain flood his body before it faded to a dull ache. Inside his head, he could hear a heavy panting. _**Naruto, I have finished. The ache will disappear after a good night of sleep. Now, I'm going to sleep for a week or so...**_ With that, her presence disappeared form his mind and he relaxed his body. "What a bitch..." He groaned out.

"What in the hell happened here, gaki?" Anko asked. The blond just looked up at her and smiled.

"Ne, I just felt that you were being attacked through my new Cursed Seal. Me and my team ran across the snake bastard and eh gave both Sasuke and myself a Cursed Seal. Kyuubi was able to 'corrupt' both herself so that Orochimaru couldn't do anything and they wouldn't affect us. So, when I came running and found you on the verge of death, I did a technique I was taught to me by the Kyuubi and basically pulled everything in your body that did not belong, into my own. Your Curse Seal seemed to come with it and, unfortunately, Kyuubi can't corrupt it because it is too old, but she created a barrier to stop it from activating or altering my mind." Naruto finished and he stretched and rubbed his shoulder. "But, unluckily, I had to go through the feeling of the Curse Seal bonding with my body while I was conscious. That was not pretty."

Anko's mind whirled with this information. But, first and foremost in her mind was that Naruto had taken her curse from her and seemingly nullified it for himself. She was...free. She lunged at the blond boy and caught him by surprised as she hugged him to herself. She settled down and had a peaceful smile on her face. "Thank you." She whispered, completely out of character. This boy would do something like taking her injuries _and_ her Curse Seal when he barely knew her. He was number one in her book now. She relented on the hug and backed up with a peaceful smile still plastered on her face.

Naruto was a bit disturbed since the smile didn't seem to fit her, but he was glad she was happy. "Well, I better get back to my team so I can finish this test." He said, smiling. He turned and gave a wave as he left. Anko returned the wave and headed to the center of the forest.

-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-

Sasuke continued pushing his chakra into Sakura's body and began the process that Tenshi had just designed. After Naruto left, he brought Sakura back form the void and took a sample of her blood for Tenshi to analyze. The angel had found a way to neutralize the poison and was instructing Sasuke on how to do it. He finished and sat back, wiping sweat from his forehead. The girl's breathing was normal again and her skin was returning to a healthy color.

He was startled when Naruto appeared next to him. He calmed himself and struggled to his feet. "Is she okay now?" He asked in a tired voice.

Naruto nodded, just as tired from the new Curse Seal. "Yeah, I transferred all of her injuries to myself and Kyuubi healed them. But...Anko's Curse Seal came with it..." Sasuke's eyes widened. "Kyuubi couldn't corrupt it because it was old, but she was able to put a barrier around to to stop it from activating or altering my mind. But...I had to stay conscious through the whole bonding process. The pain was more than I could imagine. I'll probably not even notice small cuts and bruises anymore. What about you?"

Sasuke sighed and they sat down. "I was working on a cure for Sakura's poison when I was attacked."

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_Sasuke pushed the blood into cup and capped it off. He sent Tenshi's chakra into it and let her control it to analyze and fix it. He sensed three people outside of the cave and turned to see the Sound Genin in the clearing. He slipped the cup in a secure pocket and prepared himself for battle._

"_Sasuke Uchiha." The lead one said. Most of his face was covered with bandages and he was hunched over with a furry object on his back. "We've been ordered by our master to kill you."_

"_Is that so." He said. "Care to tell me who your master is?" He asked, trying to get some information._

"_Yeah, you'd like that, wouldn't you." The other male said with a grin. He has on the gray camouflage pants that all sound Genin wore with a dull yellow shirt. His head had two leather straps hanging down on each side of his face. His blueish hair stuck up and to the side even worse than Kakashi's did. "You're going to die anyways, so it won't matter."_

"_Really? Care to test that theory?" Sasuke asked, acting arrogant to throw them off. It sure seemed to work on this guy._

"_Zaku..." The furry guy said. "You're going to get yourself killed."_

"_Please, I can take this pitiful Uchiha." Zaku said, voice full of arrogance._

"_Dosu, Dosu, Dosu..." the girl mumbled. "When will you learn that he's an idiot and will get himself killed some day."_

"_Keep quiet, Kin." Zaku half-yelled at the girl. "I don't need a whore defending me." Without even waiting to for a response, he turned to Sasuke and held his hands up. "Zankuuha(Decapitating Air Waves)!" From two holes in the Sound Genin's hands, air blasted out and rushed at Sasuke._

_Sasuke's eyes widened at the power behind the technique. However, training with a wind user, Sasuke could counter it. "Doton: Doryuu Heki(Earth Style Wall)!" A line of mud emitted from Sasuke's mouth and created a large wall of earth. However, Sasuke forewent the full span of the jutsu and made it block just him and increased the thickness. The front layer of the rock cracked but it stood standing. The rest of the air waves just flew harmless passed the sides and knocked down a few trees._

_Sasuke lowered the wall and smirked at the boy. "That's a powerful technique, but it's too slow. If I had wanted, I could have dodged with speed alone."_

_Zaku grit his teeth. "Well, then let's see you dodge this! Zankyokukuuha(Extreme Decapitating Air Waves)!" The air blast that came this time was ten times worse than before. It crashed into Sasuke and destroyed him and everything behind him. Zaku grinned in triumph. The wind cleared and he laughed until he saw that the air wave had split in two at one point and missed the cave. Sasuke was nowhere to be seen._

_A yelp of pain made the boy turn around and see Kin fall to the ground, unconscious. He whipped his head around to try and find his target. He was stopped as he felt a foot hit him in the back, forcing him to his knees. His arms were grabbed and pulled back. He craned his head to see Sasuke standing there with no emotion on his face._

"_You attacked me, and foolishly at that. You're an idiot and you don't deserve to remain a ninja." Sasuke pulled on the arms and broke them at the shoulder quickly. Zaku passed out from the pain and Sasuke turned to a sweating Dosu. "You seem to be the leader and the smartest. Take these two out of my sight and tell Orochimaru that I'm coming for him. Don't bother with your scroll either." Sasuke turned and walked back to the cave to begin the procedure on Sakura. Dosu shuddered and picked up his two teammates before leaving as fast as he could._

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Sasuke finished the story and sighed. "That was it. I nullified the poison in Sakura's bloodstream and then you arrived."

Naruto nodded. "I see. Se need to get some sleep. We're both tired out and if we're attacked again, we'll be at a disadvantage." Naruto created three Kage Bushin and sent them out to the front of the cave. Sasuke repeated the action and they both curled up on the ground to sleep.

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Team Seven was traveling again and heading towards the tower. It was the second day and they were close. After Sakura had woken, Sasuke and Naruto had told her everything that happened and they set off. That was a four hours ago and they were four more hours from the tower.

Suddenly, all three stopped running and looked head. They could all sense three distinct chakra signatures.

"Stop hiding!" Naruto yelled, "We can sense you easily!" He stopped as a black fox walked out of the underbrush. Two more followed it.

"We were not trying to hide from you, otherwise you never would have found us." The lead fox said, shocking all three. Kyuubi was going nuts inside of Naruto's head.

_**Black foxes, kill them! Kill them!**_ Naruto winced as she crashed against the bars. _Why, they're just foxes._ Kyuubi shook her head. _**Wrong! They are Kuro Kitsune and they hate me and my kind! They are going to try and kill you!**_ Naruto raised an eyebrow. "Well, this is a surprise. Who would have thought black foxes would come to try and assassinate us?" Naruto asked.

"What do you mean, Naruto?" Sakura asked, worried.

"We are Team Eight of the Kuro Kitsune and we were sent to kill you." The lead fox said coldly. "Get the girl and boy, I'll kill the Kyuubi boy." The other two foxes nodded and lunged.

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Bokura signaled Ician and his sister to land. They touched down in a clearing and his two partners turned to him questioningly.

"What's up, niisan?" Aura asked.

"We're being watched." Bokura said. "Get out here before I just kill you outright!" He yelled. Three black foxes came from a bush. They all had two tails and were the size of a large dog. Bokura's eyes widened. "Why are the Kuro Kitsune after us?" Bokura asked in uncharacteristic coldness.

"Do you know these foxes?" Ician asked.

"We are Team Seven of the Kuro Kitsune and we were sent to kill you." The lead fox said. "I do not know why, but I know we must follow through. Prepare to die." The three foxes lunged at their chosen foe and the fight began.

**-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-**

**Omg, I'm glad I finally got this damn thing done. It's been, what, two weeks since I last updated? That's a long time, but moving got in the way big time.**

**Biggest chapter so far, I think 0.o Over 8000 words...**

**What will happen with Team Seven and Team Takara? Why are the foxes after Bokura's team?**

**I haven't clue, you'll find out if/when I post chapter 11.**

**R&R PLEASE! If you don't, I'll kill Akamaru and secretly feed him to Kiba for dinner!**


	11. Kuro Kitsune and Prelims

**I decided that I'm going to be aiming for 100 chapters on this fic. Unfortunately, I've only planned enough for maybe 30-40 and making 100 would be 750,000 words...**

**If I reach that goal, I'll void my bowels...not to be too disgusting, but yeah...**

**Though, I may end it a lot sooner than 100 so I can try and start the fic I talk about after this.**

**If you want a picture of what Naruto, Sasuke, and Sakura generally act like, picture them as Shippuden but with different clothes for now.**

**I'm making plans for one of the most screwed up Naruto Crack Fics. Everything is switched up and nobody is the same as normal.**

**If I write it, it could take quite a while since it'd be almost One-Hundred Percent original storyline...almost...**

**-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto or anything I take from other animes or mangas.**

**Started****: June 17, 2008**

**Worked On****: June 19, 2008**

**Finished****: June 20, 2008**

**Total Days Worked****: 3 Days**

**Start to Finish****: 4 Days**

**-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-**

**Chapter 11****: Kuro Kitsune and Prelims**

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The Hokage and all of the Jonin-sensei with participating teams and the proctor for the third exam, Gekkou Hayate, were relaxing in a lounge room, discussing what will be happening with the exam.

"It seems that we might be having preliminaries this year." Gekkou said, coughing, after a short silence.

"Hmm, we haven't held preliminaries for ten years or so." Kakashi said, not removing his eyes from his book.

"We have a bunch of strong competitors this year." Sarutobi chipped in. "The future of the shinobi nations seems to be a strong one." The Jonin all nodded in agreement.

They all stopped as they heard the door click. When they turned to see who it was, they saw a happy, smiling, Anko who practically skipped into the room before dropping herself next to her best friend, Kurenai, on a couch. This disturbed everyone. Anko did _**not**_ skip and smile happily, instead choosing to grin and smirk evilly.

"Who are you and what did you do with Anko?" Kurenai asked, jokingly. Anko's smile gained a bit of her real self, but right now she was fine being happy and cooperative.

"Truthfully, I owe my life to someone. He's a complete stranger too, and he helped me, even hurting himself in the process!" This piqued everyone's interest. There were very few people that would go that far for a stranger.

"Who was it, what did he do?" Asuma asked, hating suspense.

Anko grinned and grabbed the collar of her trench coat. She pulled it down to reveal her bare neck. Kurenai and the Hokage gasped. It took the others longer to realize it, but most of them gasped too, the exceptions being Asuma, who's cigarette fell out of his mouth, and Kakashi, who's eye widened.

"Someone removed the Curse Seal?" Kakashi asked, disbelievingly. "Is that possible?"

Anko shrugged, fixing her collar. "I doubt it, but he didn't get rid of it. He transferred it onto himself."

"So, what is he going to do with it?" Sarutobi asked, narrowing his eyes a bit.

"Why, Kyuubi neutralized it!" Anko said happily, shocking everyone again.

"YOSH!" Gai yelled, standing up and clenching his fist. "NARUTO-KUN IS THE TRUE IMAGE OF YOUTH!" He received a fist to the head from Kurenai before he quited down.

"Please explain." Sarutobi said, worriedly. Anko explained all that Naruto and Orochimaru had told her as the other listened with rapt attention. When she told the other that Naruto and Sasuke had received their own Curse Seals, they were pissed at the hebi Sannin but calmed when they heard that Kyuubi had neutralized it. Kakashi and Sarutobi figured it was actually Tenshi that purified Sasuke's and Kyuubi did Naruto's. When Anko finished her tale, Sarutobi was deep in thought. The other looked at him expectantly. He raised his head and regarded Anko before turning to view everyone. "When Team Seven arrives, we will visit them in their room and find out the whole story regarding Orochimaru and their battle. We'll check to see if the seals are okay, if not, we'll have to seal them away and hope their will to protect the village is firm."

"If I know anything," Kakashi began, "It is that Naruto would never consciously betray Konoha. Sasuke usually sides with Naruto and the blond holds his belief firm. I doubt any number or kind of seals could affect that." The other nodded, agreeing. They'd all met and/or heard of stories about the blond and his enthusiasm. There was no doubt where his loyalties were.

-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-

Naruto caught the fox that attacked him with a roundhouse kick to the side of the face. No expecting the fox to weigh as much as it did, the effect was cut in half, but the fox still flew and hit a tree. Naruto almost felt bad for hurting an animal like that. Almost...with Kyuubi raging, even after she'd been exhausted, it was kind of hard to not believe her.

The fox stood up and wiped a trail of blood from his mouth. "I am Kuro-Hi(Dark Fire). I am rank twenty-two of thirty in the Kuro Kitsune Squadrons. I will be your executioner." Wisps of fire escaped from the fox's glowing snout before he opened his mouth and launched a high-speed ball of red fire at Naruto.

The Uzumaki dove to the side and began some seals. "Time for a jutsu I replicated from an enemy. Kaze Shunshin!" Naruto disappeared in a swirl of wind and Kuro-Hi rolled away to dodge a heel drop from the blond. Naruto didn't stop there as he shunshinned again. The fox received a right hook across the jaw, sending him crashing into a tree. Naruto smirked. "You don't seem to be all the strong."

The fox stood up wobbly and turned to the blond with, what Naruto assumed as, a glare. "I may be of the lower tiers but I am more than enough for a measly ningen(Human). Hi no Bushin(Clone of Fire)!" Fire spewed from the fox's mouth and formed into two replicas. They settled down and you couldn't visually tell the difference, but Naruto could feel the heat coming from the clones. They jumped in unison and began attacking in what the blond could only figure was a fox-based taijutsu style.

Naruto dodged under one of the clones while bending his back to avoid the one coming from the side. The third fox came swept Naruto's feet out from under him with it's tail and bit onto his leg. His skin seemed to burn as if on fire, this was a bushin. Naruto quickly sent a kick at the fox but the fake animal leaped away. The blond flipped himself off the ground and stuck to a tree before springing away, dodging a flaming paw that burnt a hole in the tree.

Kuro-Hi's chakra started to shift randomly. It wasn't until before the attack came that Naruto realize the fox was molding chakra. Naruto kicked off of a fire clone as a flamethrower engulfed it, adding it to the river of fire. The original fox turned his head to followed Naruto, burning the trees and anything else that got in it's way.

Naruto's leg wound had healed by now and he ran from the fire by flipping and swinging, just like a gymnast. He was caught off guard when the other fire clone tackled him and sent both into the spewing flames. "Suiton: Uwadzutsumi no Jutsu(Water Style: Cover/Envelop Jutsu)!" Hissing came from inside the inferno and Kuro-Hi stopped the attack when it didn't seem to be working. The flames died down to reveal a shirt-less Naruto with a thin film of water moving around him. There were a few burn spots on his chest, back, and face, but the boy seemed to ignore them. Naruto's expression hardened. "Time to take it up a notch."

"I agree." the fox growled out, flaring his chakra for his next move. "I'm not as weak as a normal twenty-second position would be, and you'll find out why!" He finished as a mist began to creep into the area from Sasuke's position.

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"My name is Kakou(Mouth of River)." The black said, looking at Sasuke with sharp, intelligent eyes. "I am rank twenty-three in the ranks of the Kuro Kitsune Squadrons. I assume you are Sasuke Uchiha?"

"I am. Why are you attacking us." The red-eyes boy asked. The fox shrugged.

"I don't know. But I do know that the leaders hate and aim to kill Kyuubi-sama. I hold no grudge against the demon lord, but I must follow my lord's orders as they took me in. In all truth, I should hate Kyuubi and her family, but I was simply expelled because of a stereotype that all of my brethren proved correct. I am one of the two percent of Kuro Kitsune that do not follow their ways, though I was beaten and treated like I was one of the others." Kakou lowered herself on her paws and entered a battle stance.

"Then why do you fight for them?" Sasuke asked, settling into his own stance.

"I must. We were all banished to the shadow realm, an off-shoot of the void, where we must live until the end of our days." Kakou explained. "Our leaders just recently were able to find a way into Ningenkai(Human World). I could never return to the demon realm or even remain in this realm without the consent of the current clan leader. And if I don't follow the Kuro Kitsune, I will be killed and made an example of. So please, fight me. I would rather die honorably in battle that be killed by those dark demonic foxes."

Sasuke sighed. Now he was going to feel guilty about hurting the fox. The Uchiha shrugged to himself and charged the fox. He sent a quick jab that was dodged by her jumping in the air. Sasuke smirked and used the momentum from his returning fist to swing around backwards and elbow the fox, hard, in the side. Kakou flew off and smashed into a tree, though with lessened effect as Sasuke had also underestimated their weight.

Kakou struggled to her feet and shook a few splinters from her body. "Thank you for not holding back." She blurred and slashed Sasuke's bicep, leaving three thin red lines. "But I shall not hold back either!" She opened her mouth and fired three bullets of water from her mouth. They flew at the Uchiha.

Sasuke smirked. He was fighting against his weakness, this would prove to be an added challenge to him. He flipped in a circle, dodging the first two bullets, and then sprung off of a branch to dodge the third before bringing his hand up to his mouth. "Katon: Goukakyuu no Jutsu!" Sasuke cried, sending the Grand Fireball hurtling towards the water fox. A massive ball of water was launched to counter it. The opposing elements collided, creating a screen of mist. Just what Sasuke wanted. He peered through the mist to see the fox looking around cautiously, trying to find him. Sasuke smirked and rose above the mist to put his plan into action.

Kakou looked around wildly, trying to find out where her opponent would strike from. The mist was three times thicker than a normal mist in Wave Country. _Almost as thick a my Kirigakure no Jutsu_. She mused. She was chilled to the bone, however when she heard the a crackle from above. There was only one thing that crackle could belong to...lightning. "Shit!"

-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-

"Hehehehe, haha!" The black fox cackled as it faced the female of the team. "I am Makaze(Storm caused by the Devil)! I am the nineteenth ranking Kuro Kitsune! They just me on this, heheh, crap team because of my condition. Haha! I'm insane!" Lightning began to jumped across the fox's fur as it stood up. "I'm going to kill you little girl! Then I'm going to have my way with your fragile body!, Hehehaha!"

Sakura recoiled back, disgusted. Just the thought of the fox touching her body like that made her want to hurl. The fox himself definitely looked insane. One eye was larger than the other and had a small pupil while the smaller one had a larger pupil. His fur was sticking out in random ways, just like Naruto's hair. His tongue hung out of his mouth with drool dripping onto the ground. _Why did I have to get the horny, insane one?_ Sakura pleaded inside of her mind, hoping some God would strike the fox down. Unfortunately, none did and the fox jumped at her and a speed that she could barely see.

Makaze caught the girl in the face with a curled paw, like a fist, and sent her into a tree, pink hair standing on end. Makaze laughed at her. "Hehehehahaha! You stand no chance, ningen! You can't beat my electricity!" The black fox jumped again but Sakura rolled out of the way and sprung to her feet.

She scowled. "I'm not going to let some horny bastard beat me, no matter how strong he is." Sakura said, flexing her hands. She waited and the fox, predictably, lunged again. Sakura smirked and thrust her fist straight forward. She hit the nose of the fox and sent him crashing through two trees and falling to the ground. "Take that, bastard!"

Makaze stood up, blood seeping out of his side, though he didn't seem to notice it. "Heheh," He panted, "You're a feisty one. I think I'll kill you after I've had my fun!" The insane fox then seemed to notice his injury and his grin widened. He lifted his paw to it in, what Sakura guessed, was an attempt to stem the blood flow. It wasn't flooding out, bu tit could be a problem later. Either way, Makaze didn't seem to care as he removed his paw and turned back to the kunoichi. "Let's play."

Sakura punched the ground and pulled up a piece of earth, something she recently learned, and threw it at the fox. He simple rolled to the side and rebounded off of a tree. Sakura took a swing but Makaze spun in mid-air and avoided it. His claw scraped across her right arm, leaving three jagged red lines. Sakura spun around and nailed the fox in the back of the head with her left fist. She was going to chase and continue her assault when she found that her right arm wasn't responding.

Makaze landed on a tree and bounced down to the ground. "Hehehaha, I see you found out my other ability. My blood is a numbing poison. It doesn't wear off for six hours at the least! I'm going to numb your entire body and then have some fun!" The dipped both of his paws in his blood before biting his leg, releasing fresh blood, coating his mouth in it. He grinned manically, as much as a fox could, and resume his attack. He opened his mouth and shot out a bolt of lightning that shattered the tree behind Sakura when she moved away. A second bolt landed at her feet and she jumped into the air as a small cloud of dust rose up. Makaze grinned, just what he had wanted. His legs tensed and he went soaring through the air. His claws cut into the girl's left arm, rendering it useless as well.

Sakura winced as the claws dug into her left arm much deeper than her right. That one probably did nerve damage. But now, both of her arms were useless, she had to figure out a way to win. Makaze was coming in for another strike as he shot off a lightning bolt. Sakura backflipped in mid-air and brought her heel down on the fox, sending it crashing into the growing mist below them. _Mist? That can't be good._ She landed on a high branch and watched as Makaze hit the ground, a snap echoing up to her. The fox must have broken something, most likely a leg or rib. Following the snap, however, Sakura heard two sources of crackling. Below her, the lightning that jumped across Makaze's fur was climbing the mist for a few feet before dissipating. Over above the center of the mist, where it was five times as dense as around Makaze, Sasuke had a flat palm stuck into the mist, crackling with electricity. A flash of the erratic element flooding the condensed water vapor and a feminine scream was heard.

The distraction cost Sakura as Makaze, with a limp and useless front leg, slashed her left leg. She gasped in pain but grit her teeth and slipped off of her branch. At the last moment, she caught herself on the underside and clung on with chakra. Makaze fell below her into the mist. Sakura, wanting to finish it, pushed off the branch and rocketed towards the falling fox. When she was close, she flipped and raised her heel before delivering a massive heel drop onto the fox's head.

"Hehehehehahahahahaaaa!" Makaze's laugh echoed across the area as his skull was crushed between the heel ans the hard ground. His body fell limp, never to rise again.

-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-

Sasuke was satisfied when he heard the female fox screaming and stopped the electric attack when he heard a thump. He launched a few fireballs into the mist to help it dissipate as he descended to land next to the fox. He felt her next and found a pulse. He began his fifty hand signs and held his hands over the furry body. "Tenshi Gigei: Kakaru Anime." The black fur paled slightly to a very dark gray and the pulse disappeared as the real body was stored in the void. He grabbed a scroll from his pocket and sealed the fake, replacement body into the scroll for easier movement. He sighed and sat down, deciding to watch the other two fights.

The Uchiha caught the end of Sakura's fight as her foot crushed the fox's skull in. _She's gotten better._ He thought, before he noticed that lack of use of three of her limbs. When she landed, she stumbled and almost fell over until Sasuke caught her. She looked up and smiled in thanks. He led her to a tree and they both sat down to watch Naruto's fight.

-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-

Kuro-Hi grinned as his fur stood up and turned into a blood red color. "You see, though I'm ranked as twenty-two, I have the power of a eighteenth rank Kuro Kitsune!" The fox's muscles bulged and his body doubled in size, almost to that of the two-tailed kitsune. "Alright, little ningen, time to play." His voice was deeper than before.

Naruto tried to draw on Kyuubi chakra. The red Curse Seal on his neck glowed and began to spread across his body. His whiskers, claws, and teeth change into that of a fox and his hair grew ragged. His eyes morphed into the red orb of the Kyuubi. However, inside of the red orb, was a smaller yellow circle and a second, horizontal, slit. The red chakra flaring over Naruto as the curving lines covered his body.

"Hinote Enkou(Fire Halo)!" Kuro-Hi yelled. Fire spewed forth from his mouth and circled him. A stream of fire connecting it to his mouth. The ring rose and began to whirl in a circle. He seemed to grin as the halo of flames sped towards Naruto, still connected to the fox's mouth.

Naruto saw the fire coming and jumped into the air, using all four of his limbs. The halo sliced through a few trees behind him and lit them on fire. The blond blew a ball of wind at the fox's face and it hit the stream of fire. It ignited and flared up in front of Kuro-Hi, blinding him. Naruto took this opportunity to charge the blinded fox and kicked the fox in the head.

Kuro-Hi went flying and the stream of fire was disrupted. He flipped and landed on a tree far enough away to clear his vision. "Ningen, you're getting annoying." Kuro-Hi growled out. He ignored the stream of blood coming from his mouth and opened his snout as wide as he could. It looked painful. Fire burned in his mouth and blasted out in a wide beam of heat.

Naruto dodged the pillar of flame and ran again as it started to follow him. This attack was at least five times as strong as the flamethrower attack and Naruto did not want to get caught in it. He skidded to a stop and bent back, so far that Keanu Reeves would be dropping his jaw, to avoid the heated beam. When it passed over him the heat that it emitted caused his skin to be colored an unhealthy red color. The blond slowly rose himself to his feet and winced in pain from the sunburn. Fortunately for him, the fox stopped the attack.

Kuro-Hi smirked. "Got you, ningen." Naruto's eyes widened and was hit in the back with the fire halo, cutting him in half at the waist. His eyes widened as the two parts of him began to descend to the ground.

"Naruto!" Sakura yelled from his spot besides Sasuke. Sasuke neglected to show any emotion on his face.

Kuro-Hi laughed as the body fell to the ground. "Did you think you could beat me? No pathetic ningen can best Kuro-Hi! Hahaha...erk." The fox stopped as something rammed through him. He turned his head to see Naruto, red chakra still flaring around him, with an almost healed sunburn, stabbing him through the chest with the Kaze Yaiba. "Shit..." The fox mumbled before Naruto pulled up and cut the fox in two. Over where the fire halo had dissipated, Naruto's body poofed into a burnt log.

Naruto glared at the dead fox. "No filthy animal will defeat me, scum." Naruto let his sword disappear and let go of Kyuubi power. The red lines began to crawl back to their origin and Naruto slumped against a tree.

Sasuke, with an incapacitated Sakura, walked up to the blond and sat down. Naruto was already unconscious so Sasuke decided to make twenty kage bushin and join him. Sakura didn't really have a choice but to sleep also.

-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-

Bokura pulled his sword out of the body of the two-tailed fox and sneered. The damn fox had the gall to say he'd do things to Aura. The fox was dead within five minutes. He sealed his sword back into a scroll and looked around. Ician released his ice spikes and the crushed body of the fox fell to the floor. His gaze shifted to his sister. She had a few cuts on her but she seemed to have done fine. The fox she fought was nowhere to be seen, but Bokura knew it was buried underground.

Bokura nodded to himself. "Let's go to the tower!" He grinned, doing a complete one-eighty in his attitude. "We got the scrolls and killed the foxes. We still have a few days to rest too." He jumped up into the trees with his sister and friend following close.

"I can't wait until we get to fight the others, niisan!" Aura yelled, smiling. Bokura just smirked.

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Naruto let himself fall onto his bed, clothes and all. They still had at least twenty-four hours to rest, maybe thirty. Sasuke set Sakura's numb body on her own bed and he went to take a shower. They had gotten tot eh tower easily after they finished the foxes and they opened the scrolls. It just so happened that they were summoning scrolls and Iruka appeared to explain about a plaque on the wall that was the key to being a good Chuunin and team leader. After that they left and were shown to their room.

Sasuke appeared out of the shower fifteen minutes later with his hair damp and only sweatpants on. He had a blue towel thrown around his neck. Sakura blushed big time from the bed and could do nothing to hide it, except turning her head.

A knock on the door disrupted the peace of Team Seven and they all glared at the offending piece of wood. Sasuke grunted. "Come in." The door opened to reveal all of the Jonin sensei, a sickly looking man, Anko, and the Hokage. Sasuke arched his eyebrow and sat at the foot of his bed. "What brings you guys here?" He asked, though he knew it was about Orochimaru and possibly the Curse Seals. Naruto groaned and flipped over before sitting cross-legged on his bed. Sakura groaned also, but she couldn't move.

"What's wrong with Sakura?" Kakashi asked, breaking the tense silence. Sasuke smirked.

"All four of her limbs are completely paralyzed for at least another two hours." The Uchiha said, laughing. "Someone could have taken advantage of her if we weren't with her."

Sakura growled. "Screw you too, Uchiha! And for your information, that fucking fox _did_ want to do that. Fortunately, I won before that point."

"Whoa, hold on." Kurenai said, holding up her hands. "Just what are you all talking about, foxes?" She asked, glancing towards Naruto.

Naruto sighed and plopped back on the bed. "Well, it went something like this..." The blond explained all what happened after they entered the forest: their fight with Orochimaru, their gaining the Curse Seals, Naruto healing Anko, Sasuke fighting the sound nin, the foxes attacking and them beating them down. When they were finished, the adults were shocked.

"Well now," Sarutobi began. "this is a shocker. Fortunately Kyuubi and Tenshi were there or we might have lost Naruto and Sasuke." He said, going into a thinking position.

"Who's Tenshi?" Anko decided to ask. "Maybe she'd like to have a little fun." Yep, there went any kind of respect Sasuke had for the woman.

Sarutobi shook his head and explain about the Oni-Tenshi Denrei. The Jonin were once again shocked, except Kakashi. "Now that that's over, let's check the seals." The aging man walked over to Sasuke and places his hand over the three white comma marks. His chakra entered to examine it and found it was packed full of Tenshi's white chakra. The Curse Seal had been completely eradicated of Orochimaru's presence. "Hmm, Sasuke's seems to be fine. It's like a second battery for Tenshi's chakra." He moved over to Naruto and repeated the process on his two. He frowned. "The Earth Curse Seal is just like Orochimaru's except Kyuubi has corrupted it to use her own power and any presence of Orochimaru is destroyed. It is just like Sasuke's but with Kyuubi's chakra, but the Heaven seal he has...It is in complete and working order, more so than when Anko had it. But,t here's a thick orb of Kyuubi's chakra preventing it from doing anything, though if Naruto wanted, he'd be able to disperse the block and force it to activate." He backed up and looked at the two boys. "Though these are like backup chakra stores, I'd recommend only using them in dire need. And Naruto, I'm forbidding you from ever using your Heaven Curse Seal. It could corrupt you and if Orochimaru gets you, the village is screwed." Naruto and Sasuke nodded their consent. "Good.

The Hokage turned and left with all but Kakashi. Anko turned around and winked at Naruto, causing him to blush. This did not go unnoticed by Kakashi but he chose to ignore it. When they were all gone he turned to his students and smiled. "I'm proud of you all for facing Orochimaru and surviving and beating those foxes. You'll be the best in the village some day. Possibly even the next Sannin. Well, good luck in the third exam, you have two days until the second is over." He gave a wave and disappeared.

Naruto sighed. "Good he's gone. We can shower and go to sleep!" He stumbled up and headed towards the bathroom.

"You can shower and go to sleep!" Sakura yelled. "I'm kind of stuck here for a couple of hours!" Naruto stuck his tongue out and close the bathroom door. Sasuke sighed and laid down on the bed. It had been a hard day.

-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-

Two days later brought team seven to an open room with two large statues of hands clasped together in the ram sign. Along the edge of the wall was a balcony and along one wall was a raised platform for the Hokage and Jonin to stand on. At the moment, the Hokage was explaining that the exam was a replacement for war or some such crap. But Naruto wasn't paying attention. Instead, he was looking at the competition. In the room was all three rookie teams, Gai's team, Kabuto's team, the sound team, the sand siblings, and Bokura's team. _That makes twenty-four._

"I'll quit." a voice said. Naruto looked to see Kabuto. "I had some tough fights in the forest and I can't do this."

"Kabuto Yakushi of the leaf." Hayate read from a clipboard. "You may leave." _Makes that twenty-three._ Naruto corrected himself.

"I'll quit too proctor." Ician said. He showed his arm and it had a gash on it. "I had a run in with a supernatural beast and it got the beast of me, I can't fight with this arm." _That's down to twenty-two, an even number._

"Very well. Ician Franz of Suna, you may go." Hayate said. "Any more?" He asked, no one raised their hands. "Okay, your fate will be decided by this board." He said, pointing up to the wall where it opened to reveal a board that began to cycle through everyone's names.

"What's going on?" Naruto asked his teammates.

"Weren't you listening?" Sakura asked, annoyed.

"Nah, I was checking out the competition. What did I miss?" The blond replied sheepishly.

Sasuke sighed and looked to his brother in all but blood. "We have too many people left so we're having preliminaries to cut it down. This board decides who fights who."

"Everyone who isn't fighting please report to the balcony." Hayate asked, gesturing to the metal stands long the walls. "First fight: Yoroi Akado vs. Shikamaru Nara. Hajime(Begin)!" He said when the two were left. The two jumped back away from each other.

**1****st**** Fight: Yoroi Akado vs Shikamaru Nara**

Shikamaru looked at his opponent lazily while Yoroi flared up blue chakra on his hands. Yoroi charged the Nara at high speeds. "I've upgraded my ability since I last fought a fellow Leaf nin."

"Isn't that the guy we fought on our mission?" Sasuke asked.

Sakura grit her teeth. "Bastard. I should have killed him." She muttered. "He's no Leaf nin. We'll have to tell Hokage-sama later. Same with that other guy. He's probably Tsurugi Misumi."

"We'll get them later." Sasuke said. Sakura seemed to calm down.

"Kick his ass, Shikamaru!" She yelled, shaking her fist.

Both competitors looked up at her weirdly. Yoroi started to sweat. _Shit, if she knows who I am, my cover is blown. I'd better tell Kabuto when this is over._ He focused and the chakra on his hands grew more erratic. He charged and tried to grab Shikamaru but the boy dodged to the side. Yoroi swung his other hand out and grabbed Shikamaru's face.

The shadow user gasped as he felt himself weakening. _H-He's absorbing my chakra?_ He thought as his body started to go numb. Shikamaru kicked at Yoroi's stomach and the man jumped away. The Nara genius stumbled to his feet and glared at his opponent. However, Yoroi wasn't idle appeared with a punch to the stomach. Shikamaru's eyes widened as a bit of spittle flew from his mouth. He flew across and hit the opposing wall. It left no mark, unlike Sakura's would have done. He slid to the ground and watched the man laughing from the other side. _Maybe I should just lay here and let him win..._ Shikamaru mused.

"Shikamaru!" Ino yelled. The lazy boy looked up at the girl's angry face. "If you don't get your ass up I'm going to tell Yoshino!" The boy's eyes widened but he just waved to his in a dismissing way.

Shikamaru waved off Ino and hoped his plow worked, it did. Yoroi laughed at the boy. "I guess that was something of a great punishment for you. If you're able to wave it off, then you must truly be pathetic and weak." The boy reached to grab a kunai when he stopped. The boy in front of him disappeared, a bushin!

"Kage Mane(Shadow Possession) success." Shikamaru said, lazily, from Yoroi's left. "I don't have much chakra left so I'm going to end this now." He reached into his pouch and pulled out a kunai. Yoroi repeated his action and pulled out his own.

"Are you stupid?" Yoroi asked. "If you throw it, you'll have to dodge mine, meaning I'll dodge too!"

"Hmm?" His opponent asked before he threw the kunai. It approached Yoroi and the other approached him. Shikamaru smirked and bent back to dodge. Yoroi's laugh was cut short as a thud echoed around the room. Shikamaru released the jutsu and walked towards the stairs.

Hayate walked over and checked Yoroi. "Yoroi is down. Winner is Shikamaru Nara!" Sakura, Ino, and Chouji cheered. The shadow boy just walked up the stairs and slumped against the wall. The board flicked through random names again and landed on two more.

"The second match is between Sabaku no Kankuro and Tsurugi Misumi!" Hayate shouted after the medics had taken Yoroi's body to the infirmary. "Will the two competitors come down to the floor!?"

"It is him!" Sakura hissed. "We're definitely telling Hokage-sama about this afterwards." Sasuke chose not to remark.

**2****nd**** Match: Sabaku no Kankuro vs Tsurugi Misumi**

Kankuro smirked at his opponent as he landed on the floor. Tsurugi did the same. The battle started out with a bit of taijutsu before Tsurugi wrapped himself around Kankuro and held his arms to the side and his neck tilted back. He threatened to break his neck and Kankuro just laughed. Tsurugi made well on his threat and snapped the sand Genin's neck before the boy's face started to fall apart to reveal a puppet. The large wrapped bundle, that Kankuro had set down at the beginning of the match, unwrapped to reveal Kankuro. The fake Kankuro turned his head around and wrapped the elastic boy up before snapping his neck and winning the match. Kankuro left the arena and the medics came out to pick up the deceased boy.

"Winner of match two, Sabaku no Kankuro!" Hayate yelled and the screen started up again. "Will Ino Yamanaka and Tenten please report to the floor for your fight.

**3****rd**** Match: Ino Yamanaka vs Tenten**

The two kunoichi landed on the floor and the proctor started to match. The match started with the two girls jumping back and drawing kunai. Tenten quickly threw four kunai and drew some shuriken to follow. She then pulled out a scroll and prepared for another attack.

Ino blocked two of the kunai and dodged the other two, but two of the follow-up shuriken got her on the arms and she winced. She turned just in time to the see the mass of weapons heading towards her. She quickly started dodging and blocking with her two kunai. She only avoided about eighty percent of them and she got plenty of nicks on her. She looked up and Tenten was gone, the only noticed she had was a whooshing sound before Tenten's hand collided with the girl's neck and knocked her unconscious. The medic came out for her while Tenten scowl and returned to the balcony.

Hayate sighed at the girl's lack of ability but looked back up at the board. "Next match, Aura Takara vs Kiba Inuzuka."

"That's Bokura's sister." Naruto whispered. "If he's any example, she's probably more powerful that you'd realize. Kiba's toast."

"I don't think you should count him out yet." Kurenai said. "He's been working hard and has improved a lot since becoming a Genin."

"That may be so but," Sasuke said. "His big head will make him underestimate her and that'll be all she needs."

Naruto sighed. "Unfortunately, that's true. If he wasn't so foolhardy, he would have a better chance."

"I don't think you have much room to talk." Sakura deadpanned.

"Hey!" Naruto growled, clenching his fist in mock anger. "I've been getting better! I only underestimated Orochimaru at first because he was in disguise and the fox because he had that stupid transformation!"

Kurenai just arched an eyebrow. She knew Kiba had a hard head and she knew it was like signing his death certificate, but she couldn't rid him of it. It had lessened but the boy was just like most Inuzuka. She sighed and turned to the match.

**4****th**** Match: Aura Takara vs Kiba Inuzuka**

"Hajime!" Hayate yelled before jumping back to avoid any starting damage.

Kiba grinned. "Lucky us, Akamaru, this will be an easy match!" Akamaru barked at his master and jumped out of his jacket onto the floor. The two looked at the girl in front of them. She had long, green-tinted hair that fell to her waist. Her eyes were a vibrant green just like Bokura's. She wore a green and white t-shirt and green shorts over black shorts.

Aura frowned at the dog boy and turned to look at Bokura. "Niisan! He's underestimating me!" She whined. "Can I let loose?"

Bokura chuckled. "Sure, just don't kill him. We don't need any deaths on our hands."

"Yatta!" Aura yelled and turned back to the dog boy and grinned. "Niisan says I don't have to hold back. I'll teach you not to underestimate me just because I'm a girl."

Kiba smirked. "Big talk for a little girl."

Aura frowned. "What did I just say?" She disappeared and Kiba went flying across the room. Where Kiba had been standing before was Aura with her foot raised in the air. "I'm going to kick you ass you pompous fool!"

Kiba hit the wall and slid to the floor. His vision swam before he regained himself and struggled to his feet. He wiped some blood away from his mouth and snarled. "Bitch." Aura just moved her foot in an arc and brought it to a hanging position in front of her, ready to lash out.

The girl just smirked. "Bring it on, mutt. This is a taijutsu style taught to me by my niisan and it's going to be your end." Kiba charged at her and prepared to dodge and attack her. Aura slammed her right foot on the ground and spun around, sending her left foot into Kiba's face. The dog boy hadn't anticipated that she'd move forward and attack with her opposing leg.

Kiba landed and bounced to his feet. He growled low. "Shikyaku no Jutsu(Four-Legged Technique)! Come on Akamaru! Juujin Bushin(Beast-Man Clone)!" The white puppy jumped onto Kiba's crouched form and transformed into a copy of the boy. They were both feral looking with slitted eyes, fangs, and claws. "Let's take it up a notch. Gatsuuga(Double Piercing Fang)!" The two feral boys started spinning and launched at the girl from two different directions.

Aura stood on guard as the two tornadoes approached form different sides, fast. They came at her and she jumped up and back. She dodged for the most part, but the higher of the two twisters caught her leg and drew blood. Aura landed and pushed her weight onto her righ0t leg and she checked her left. The attack did a good deal of damage and she wouldn't be able to use the leg for the match. She looked up and glared at the approaching tornadoes. She jumped back from the boys and flipped up the statues of hands. The two Kibas crashed into the pillar and curved to avoid a headlong collision. They swept up, hit the ceiling, and swung back around, giving Aura plenty of time to complete her jutsu.

"Doton: Kannonhou no Jutsu(Earth Style: Cannon Jutsu)!" Aura yelled, holding the final hand seal out in front of her. A open-ended cylinder rose from under her and a light lit inside. "Bang!" She yelled and a chunk of rock launched form the barrel. A second bang followed with a second chunk of earth. They flew through the air and Kiba and Akamaru had no chance to dodge with their limited mobility. The clods of earth collided with the two tornadoes at high speeds and stopped them all together. The two stopped spinning and fell to the ground, unconscious. Aura sighed and dropped to the floor before hobbling with the medics out of the room.

"Winner, Aura Takara!" Hayate yelled. He waited for the field to be cleared of injured participants before announcing the next match. "Shino Aburame and Sabaku no Gaara! Please report to the floor!"

Shino calmly walked down the stairs and Gaara appeared in the middle in a swirl of sand. The calmly looked at each other. The cork popped out of Gaara's gourd and shot towards Shino's head. The bug-user simply tilted his head to avoid it. He watched as sand poured out of the gourd onto the floor to surround the Sand nin.

"Hajime!" Hayate shouted and jumped backwards. Neither person moved in the arena, neither needed to. They were both silent types and both understood subtle movements easily. They they started.

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**That chapter was a bit hard at the end. Having to write all the battles...eh...I'm no great at them. I always find them lacking length.**

**Anywho, woot! Finished Chapter 11 on time :D**

**I managed to get more reviews, faster, when I threatened something, so let's try it again.**

**R&R or I'll turn Orochimaru into a Christian and make Naruto the raging gay pedophile...With Michael Jackson as his assistant! :3**


	12. Preliminary Explosions

**Yeah, I have problems when writing fight scenes -.-**

**I put off the chapter for like three of four days before I even started, and it wasn't very easy. I'll be glad when the Chuunin exams are over and the invasion starts. I can focus on the Characters I know the best.**

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**Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto or anything I take from other animes or mangas.**

**Started****: June 23, 2008**

**Worked On****: N/A**

**Finished****: June 27, 2008**

**Total Days Worked****: 2 Days**

**Start to Finish****: 5 Days**

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**Chapter 12****: Preliminary Explosions**

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**5****th**** Match: Shino Aburame vs Sabaku no Gaara**

A whip of sand shot out at Shino in an attempt to get the match going. The bug boy easily dodged to the side and the sand hit the cement floor. Shino readjusted his glasses and dodged a second strike of sand by jumping backwards. Gaara hadn't even moved a millimeter since the fight started. Even the body's need to blink seemed to be absent in the sand jinchuuriki. The two tentacles of sand rose into the air and attacked the boy again, only to crashed into the wall as Shino flipped backwards to land above the sand's impact zone.

Shino's eyes widened as a third tentacle charged him on the wall and the two below him reformed. He jumped into the air and the sand followed him like a lost dog. He slipped between two of the sand limbs and landed on the ground before leaping off to avoid a fourth. While in mid-air, a string of sand acted fast and pierced Shino through the chest. He hung on the thin whip of sand with a shocked expression. Everyone around the room gasped until the bug-user's body burst into a cloud of...bugs, what else? The sand started to rapidly attack the bugs and try to surround them. Half got away while the other half was trapped in a ball of sand.

Gaara made his first move for the entire match as he raised his hand. "Sabaku Sousou(Desert Funeral)." His dead voice echoed as the sand crashed in on itself, crushing the bugs.

Shino, from his hiding point, cursed silently as roughly one-fifth of his colony was destroyed. He had sent bugs out at the start of the match to begin draining Gaara of his chakra. He raised his hand where a single bug sat. "Check and return." He said, the bug opened it's wings and flew down to the sand boy.

Shino dropped from his hiding spot and threw a slew of shuriken and kunai at his opponent. The sand around him rose to block them and the metal weapons were sucked into the sand before a clone of Gaara formed and threw them back. Shino caught on kunai and deflected a few others to give him space to escape the rest. He landed and was shocked as sand rocketed out of the cracks in the cement tiles and wrapped around his ankles and wrists. Shino tried to move but it was fruitless. A thin tendril of sand rose from each wrist cuff and latched onto Shino's arms before bending, breaking both of the bug boy's wrists. Shino held in a scream of pain and glared at his opponent.

"Shino!" Hinata yelled quietly, only being heard by her sensei, Kurenai, Naruto, and Shikamaru, because he was close. The Hyuuga heiress watched in fear as her teammate was trapped and his wrists broken.

"The real one." Gaara stated. "Sabaku Kyuu(Desert Coffin)." The sand swirled around Shino and enclosed him from ankle to neck in a wrap of sand. "Sabaku Sousou." the sand constricted and Shino's body exploded in a shower of bugs. The sand boy's glare deepened and he recalled his sand.

Shino was hiding again on the ceiling as his bug finally returned to him. He received the information and wasn't happy at all. The boy seemed to have a shield of sand around his body, and the bugs that managed to get through ate his chakra, but it felt evil and he had a ton of it. Shino recalled all of his bugs and dropped to the floor, careful to avoid further damaging his wrists.

"Proctor, I would like to forfeit." Stated the bug boy. Hayate nodded and called the match.

"Winner, Sabaku no Gaara!" he called out as Shino was escorted to the infirmary for the medics to take care of his wrists.

Ino shivered. "That guy is dangerous and he has no problems with killing."

"Troublesome." Shikamaru said. "He's very powerful and should be avoided." Chouji nodded.

Hinata sighed in relief as her teammate was led out. _S-Shino was almost killed. I don't think I can handle these exams._ She said in her mind, hating how weak she was.

"The Ichibi jinchuuriki is powerful and ruthless." Naruto said so only Team Seven heard him. "We'll have to deal with him later, he could become a problem if the boy decides to attack."

"That he could." Kakashi stated, without looking away from his book. "His life was just like Naruto's was, except Gaara never really knew what it felt like to be accepted. From what I heard, his uncle was the only one that really cared. One day, Gaara's father, the Kazekage, sent his deceased wife's brother to kill Gaara and Gaara killed him. Since then, the boy has been a mental state and kills whoever angers him."

"The bastard Kazekage." Naruto muttered. "Wasn't the sacrifice for the sealing Gaara's mother?" The blond asked his sensei.

"Hai. The Kazekage sacrificed his own wife to have the village elder, Chiyo, seal the demon inside his son. Her last words were those of wishing for Gaara to destroy Suna for what they did to her. Fortunately, or unfortunately, that hasn't happened...yet." The Copy nin said, with sadness in his voice. "The Kazekage recently gave up his assassination attempts and started sending Gaara on high level missions disguised as C-ranks in the hopes he'll die."

"If I ever see that bastard of a man, I'll disembowel him!" Sakura vowed. Sasuke nodded solemnly.

Naruto, however, was more concerned with what ifs. _Could I have turned out like that if I never found anyone that cared?_ He asked himself. _That...knowing that makes me want to protect my precious people all the more._ Inside the boy's head, Kyuubi smiled softly, something she wouldn't let anyone else ever see, as her host

Hayate raised his hand and called out. "Will Kin Tsuchi and Naruto Uzumaki report to the floor!?"

Naruto was snapped out of his thoughts when he was called and grinned. "My turn to have some fun." He flipped down and landed in the middle of the arena, facing his opponent, the female Sound Genin. Naruto's visage turned to one of seriousness. "Unlike Kiba, I will not underestimate you because you're a girl, let's go."

**6****th**** Match: Kin Tsuchi vs Naruto Uzumaki**

"Hajime!" Hayate yelled. Naruto jumped back and flung out eight shuriken to test out his opponent's defenses. Kin pulled two senbon out and deflected the shuriken with ease.

"While I thank you for not underestimating me for my gender, I will not go easy on you." Kin said. "I have a grudge against your teammate for knocking me out in the forest, and you're the next best thing."

Naruto grinned. "Well then, let's see if you can stand up to him, since I'm on an equal level with him." Naruto made a hand sign and two copies of him came into existence. All three blonds dodged as four senbon were flung at them. The tinkle of a bell hit Naruto's ear and he narrowed his eyes. _She could be using these to fool me. She'll probably throw more with bells next time and then drastically increase the amount of those without bells on the third throw to through me off and score a hit. But...she is a Sound Genin so the bells might use sound as a weapon, I should be careful._ The blond's mixed up and split up to confused Kin as to which was real.

The girl frowned and threw a few senbon as each and watched as they jumped away. She then smirked and pulled on a string attached to the bells to ring them.

Naruto's eyes widened as the sound hit his ears and his vision went haywire. _Shit, it was sound and she got me good._ He tried to focus but all three of the clones were disorientated. Naruto clenched his fists around two kunai and growled. "Grr, I don't care! Dammit, I'll just hit all five of you!" The blond yelled, confusing the observers.

"What's he talking about?" Sakura asked, concerned for her teammate's sanity.

Sasuke sighed. "The bells cast a genjutsu on him that messed up his vision and hearing. It should start to fatigue him too, but Naruto's tenant is able to stop that.

Kin arched an eyebrow. _His body should be getting tired already. Oh well, he must be used to fighting when dead tired. I'll just have to show him what happens when you try to fight your body._ She did a few hand signs and created four clones of herself as they all smirked.

"Gah!" Naruto yelled. "I'll get all twenty-five of you!" Kin assumed that one talking was the real one and threw a couple senbon at him. The boy tried to jump away but he saw fifteen senbon while only three were real. He was caught in the leg and disappeared in a poof of smoke.

"Kage Bushin no Jutsu!" Naruto yelled from behind her as eighteen more blonds came into existence. "Attack!" He yelled. All of the clones charged forward and started wildly swinging his kunai to hit the Kin's. Most of the attacks passed through the fake images while two of the clones were passed though, causing them to phase out. The real Kin evaded all attempts and killed off seven of the nineteen clones.

The clones stumbled when they hit a fake copy of a bushin and Kin capitalized on their overbalancing and confusion by throwing more senbon. A couple of clones were hit before one was hit and the others poofed away, leaving a single Naruto that ripped the senbon from his shoulder.

Kin grinned. "Got ya!" She threw a slew of senbon at Naruto and his eyes widened. Until they hit him and he disappeared in a cloud of smoke. The next thing Kin knew was darkness as Naruto's chopped her neck. Behind her were five Narutos. One for each of the Kin's that the original Naruto could see. Naruto sighed and shunshinned up to the balcony. He landed wrong and Sasuke had to grab his arm to stop his from falling off of the railing.

"Winner, Naruto Uzumaki!" Hayate yelled as the board started up again.

Hinata smiled as she watched Naruto, unnoticed by everyone, except Kurenai. She was blushing and had a sad smile. _Naruto-kun is good and managed to win even when he had a disadvantage. I wish I could have the confidence that he had. I wish I could be as strong as Naruto-kun._ The Hyuuga said inside her head.

Kurenai smiled at her only female student. _Hinata has a ways to go before she gets up the nerve to talk to the blond. I hope she can finally tell him how she feels some day. Hopefully he'll at least be friends with her. The poor girl deserves something nice in her life, as does the blond scapegoat._ She noticed the sad smile on Hinata's face and smiled softly. "Don't worry, Hinata, you're just as strong as Naruto, you just haven't realized it yet. Maybe someday he'll even notice your affection."

Hinata blushed even harder at her sensei's words. "T-Thank y-you, sensei." She whispered, loud enough for the red-eyes Jonin to hear. _But you're wrong, I'm not as strong as Naruto-kun. But someday, I will be and I'll impress him!_

"Sakura Haruno and Sabaku no Temari, please come to the floor!" Hayate yelled.

Sasuke and Naruto looked over at their teammate and smirked. "Alright, Sakura-chan!" Naruto said. "It's your turn to show your stuff! Go out there and kick her ass!"

"Sakura, put our teachings to good use and prove that you're a deserving kunoichi." The Uchiha said.

Sakura smiled softly as her friends. "Thank you, I will!" The pink-haired girl jumped over the rails to face her opponent. The sun kunoichi was smirking as she watched the pink-haired girl.

**7****th**** Match Sabaku no Temari vs Sakura Haruno**

"Hajime"

Sakura just watched Temari as she calculated the best course of action. The first thing she took note of was the giant piece of metal on the girl's back. _That thing is pretty big. It could be sued as a blunt weapon, but I doubt that's the primary function. I need to find out what it does and create a counter for it._ Sakura pulled out eight kunai and flung them at the smirking blond. Said blond seemed to shake and the kunai fell to her feet without touching her.

Sakura went wide-eyed. _She stopped them without even moving!_ She stated to herself in awe. _This could be either wind chakra or a telekinesis ability, I need to figure out which._

Sasuke arched an eyebrow. "Well, Naruto, seems you have a competitor in Wind Jutsu, though I doubt she'd give you much of a challenge in that department."

"So, she's a wind user?" Naruto asked, curious. "I wonder if she has any jutsu that I could learn." Both boys watched, one with Sharingan activate, the other with a sharp eye for detail.

Temari watched the pink-haired girl try to figure out a countermeasure. "Well, little girl, that didn't work, what's next?"

Sakura frowned but didn't rise to the bait. She charged the sand nin with her arm pulled back. Temari grinned and pulled out the metal object. She opened it and swung a fan at Sakura, blowing her away. "Kamaitachi(Cutting Whirlwind)!" The wind hit Sakura and blew her back a ways but she stayed on her feet with the use of chakra.

_So, she uses wind to attack and defend. I'll have to outrun her._ Sakura stood back to her full height before settling into a stance. She was going to charge again but Temari decided to stop her.

"Kamaitachi!" The winds flew at her again, but Sakura was ready this time. The pink-haired kunoichi raised her fist and punched the ground. The tile in front of her tilt up and blocked the wind attack.

"Sakura's attacks are based around taijutsu." Neji said, stoically. "She will lose this as Temari is a long-ranged fighter."

"Oh shove it, Hyuuga." Naruto said, smirking. "Sakura's attack are from just taijutsu." Neji just huffed and ignored the blond.

The tile dropped back down into place with a new crack where Sakura punched it. "You underestimate me as if a weak kunoichi. That will be your first mistake." Sakura pulled back her fist and punched the ground again. This time a fissure opened and almost swallowed Temari before she jumped to the side and placed her fan in front of her.

"See this?" Temari asked, smirking again. "This is a moon. When you see the third moon, you'll know you've lost." The blond swung her fan once again, creating an even stronger wind. Sakura raised another tile in defense. The wind hit the cement blockade and tore through it, scattering dust and debris behind it. Temari laughed. "As if some little shield will protect you." Her eyes widened, though, when the dust cleared and Sakura was nowhere to be seen. She quickly brought her fan in front of her and swung around, blocking the punch sent at her. Sakura's fist hit the metal fan and bent it.

Temari's turned from overconfidence to an Uchiha-level glare. "This was my personal fan and you bent it. You're in for hell now." Temari opened her fan and swung it, regardless of non-linear state. "Kamaitachi!" The winds hit Sakura and sent her into the far wall with a few cuts on her. Temari was about to smirk until the girl melted into a puddle of water. "Mizu Bushin?" She asked out loud. Temari now had her fan open to two moons and was looking around. She spun on her heel to spot the pink-haired girl holding up a large chunk of the floor. It was about the size of the hands along the wall and Temari paled. Sakura tossed it up with a bit of effort and punched it, shattering it and sending millions of sharpened pebbles flying at Temari and the, fortunately, empty wall behind her. She swung her fan, fully opened, and deflected most of the rocks. The rest passed by her.

Sakura stood up to her full height and smirked. Temari glared at the girl. "What are you smirking at, girly? I deflected your attack. And, if you haven't noticed," She brought her fan up to show. "There's three moons! Daikamaitachi(Great Cutting Whirlwind)!" Temari swung her fan once and then swung it back, creating a horizontal vortex. It crashed into Sakura and lifted her into the air until the vortex stood vertically.

"This match is over." Neji stated.

Lee turned to his rival with fire in his eyes. "Yosh! Do you have no faith in Sakura-chan!?"

Back in the arena, Sakura was gaining multiple cuts on her body as she screamed a silent scream.

Temari smirked and cut off her chakra. The whirlwind faded down and Sakura fell towards her. She held out her fan and Sakura landed on her back, painfully. Temari was smirking until Sakura urst into water and she felt a fist in her gut.

"I never said Sakura was going to lose." Neji stated.

Temari was flung into the wall and made an indent an inch thick. Her eyes were wide and she fell from the wall onto the ground. Hayate walked over to the girl to check. "Temari is unconscious and unable to battle. The winner of match seven, Sakura Haruno!" The pink-haired girl made a pose and jumped back up to the balcony.

"Good job, Sakura-chan!" Naruto said, grinning. Sasuke smirked and nodded. Sakura smiled at the praise and turned back to the now-empty arena.

"Next fighters, Bokura Takara and Rock Lee!" Hayate called out.

"YOSH!" Lee yelled. "MY TURN HAS FINALLY ARRIVED! I WILL SHOW THEM MY FLAMES OF YOUTH!" The loud boy jumped into the ring and and settled into a stance with his left hand behind his back and his right in front of him in a fist.

"Kick his ass, Lee!" Naruto yelled, hanging over the railings.

"Aw, still sore from your loss?" Bokura taunted, pulling down his eye and sticking out his tongue. Naruto just responded with his tongue and the middle finger. Bokura chuckled and turned to his opponent. "Let's have fun, shall we?" He asked.

Lee's eyes lit of in fire. "Yosh! You're flames of youth shines bright!"

**8****th**** Match: Bokura Takara vs Rock Lee**

"Hajime!"

Bokura smirked as Lee disappeared from sheer speed alone. Ge bent his body backwards to avoid the side punch to his head. He spun around and sent an elbow to Lee's back only to miss as the boy disappeared again. Bokura copied Lee's action and disappeared, leaving all of the Genin wondering where they were.

"Where'd they go?" Sakura asked, confused.

"Speed." Naruto stated. "They're using pure speed, aren't they, Sasuke?"

The Uchiha nodded. "Neither is using chakra to boost their speed. This is all pure muscle and reaction time." They watched as the two appeared with Lee trying to strike Bokura, but was blocked by the wind user's arms. They disappeared again.

"Sugoi..." Sakura said. The two boys maintained their high speeds and would appear every couple seconds, one blocking and the other attacking. This continued for another minutes before the two got tired and appeared once more. They were standing in the middle of the arena and both had their fists out, punching each other's. The collision of fists created a shock wave from the speed of the impact. They jumped away from each other, Lee landing on top of the hand statues.

Bokura shook his arm. "Jeez, that almost fractured my arm." He stretched it out and let it pop as he removed the Fuuton: Uwadzutsumi no Jutsu from his arm.

"Lee! Take them off!" Gai yelled out.

"No keep them on!" Naruto begged. Sakura turned green from the mental image and Sasuke shivered. On the other side of the balcony, Aura blushed a bright scarlet.

"But Gai sensei, you said only when I..." Lee began.

"I'll make an exception this time!" Gai said, doing the good guy pose, thumb, smile, and teeth sparkle all together.

"Gai-sensei! I'll make you proud!" Lee shouted as he took the weights out of his leg warmers and held them out. He let go and they dropped like rocks.

"Heh, like losing a couple of pounds is going to make a difference." Sakura mocked. The weights hit the ground and created two craters from the weight. "Holy shit..." Sakura corrected herself.

"Gai...don't you think you went a bit overboard?" Kakashi asked with a sweatdrop.

Gai turned to Kakashi and repeated the good guy pose. "Of course not! Lee cannot use ninjutsu and genjutsu, so we had to make him the best he could possibly be in taijutsu! Then, he could prove that you don't need chakra to be a good ninja!"

Lee disappeared and Bokura's eyes widened. He received a powerful kick to the gut that sent him flying into the wall, creating a crack almost as big as when Sakura punched Temari into the wall. Bokura pushed himself out and landed on all fours. Slowly, he pushed himself and released the Uwadzutsumi again. The jutsu had saved him a lot of pain and injury, both in spars and battle. Unfortunately, that attack was powerful and there was going to be a large bruise on his stomach for a week if not healed. "Shit..." He muttered. He closed his eyes and placed his hands in the ram sign. Lee took the chance and charged again at warp speed and punched at the wind user. Bokura barely moved his head to the side in time to avoid the punch. He rolled and jumped to avoid a heel jump that cracked the ground. Lee took this opportunity and attacked while he was in midair. Bokura pulled his legs up as high as he could, so far it started to hurt, but he pushed them down as hard as he could an instant later, launching off of Lee's arm.

"How is he doing that with his eyes closed?" Sakura asked, amazed.

"That's a good question." Naruto said, eying the self-blinded ninja.

Sasuke had his Sharingan eyes blazing, watching the battle. "It's wind chakra. He's using the wind around him to feel Lee's attacks and counter them. I can see Lee, but he's a blur to my eyes. If I didn't have the third tomoe, I'd be as blind to his movements as you guys are."

Bokura felt out with his wind and waited. He was standing on the ceiling from Lee's last attack. When the handicapped ninja attacked him he moved out of the way and sent his fist into Lee's face. Lee tried to move back but the fist hit him slightly, though it did very little damage, ti threw him off balance and Bokura sent a kick to his stomach. Both landed on the ground, Lee on his back and Bokura on his feet.

Lee's struggled to his feet and looked up to his sensei. Gai nodded and Lee focused back on Bokura with pure determination. "Kaimon(First Gate) Release!" Chakra flooded from Lee's body as he powered up from the kinjutsu.

Kakashi's eyes widened. "You taught him how to release the Celestial Gates?" He asked, shocked.

"Yes, this was a key to Lee proving his worth." Gai said, looking serious.

"Ne, Kakashi-sensei, what are these gates you're talking about?" Naruto asked, curious.

"The Celestial Gates are eight points in the chakra system." Sakura said, remembering learning about them in the academy. "They are the Kaimon, Kyuumon(Heal Gate), Seimon(Birth Gate), Shoumon(Wound Gate), Tomon(Limit Gate), Keimon(View Gate), Kyoumon(Wonder Gate), and Shimon(Death Gate). Each gate releases more limits on the body and causes more damage. If someone were to release the Shimon, they would have the power and chakra of a Kage, but they would die, no questions."

"It is best used as a last resort." Kakashi said. "The gates are very dangerous and considered a kinjutsu for a reason. Gai, how many gates can Lee open?"

"Lee can only open five right now, but he's working on the sixth, it's going to take him a while. After the sixth, I'm not going to teach him the seventh or eighth."

"Who all can open the gates?" Sasuke asked.

"Currently, only myself and Hokage-sama can open the Shimon. Kakashi can open up to Kyoumon. Asuma Sarutobi can open the second, and most Jonin know how to open the first. All ANBU captains are taught the first as Ace in the Holes." Gai replied.

"Don't get any ideas, Naruto, Sasuke." Kakashi stated firmly. "I have no intention of ever teaching you how to open the gates and if Gai does, I'll personally castrate him. The gates are nothing to play with."

Back in the fight, Bokura received a godly hit to the stomach and crashed into the wall. He fell to the floor, blood flowing from the corner of his mouth. _Damn, I barely got the Uwadzutsumi up that time..._ Bokura slowly pushed himself to his feet, his body wracked with pain.

"You are a very worthy opponent!" Lee shouted. "Kyoumon, release! Seimon, Release!" His skin turned to a bloody red, signifying increased oxygen levels. His irises and pupils turned pure white and his body was surrounded in chakra. His power was so high that the ground was shaking. Lee disappeared.

Sasuke's eyes widened. "Even I can't see him!" Team Seven was bugged eyed at that news.

Bokura's eyes widened and he tried to move, but Lee was too fast and sent him into the air with a kick. Bokura flew up and neared the ceiling before he started to fall again, but Lee appeared behind him. "Kage Buyou!" Lee said. The bandages on his arms began to unravel and he wrapped them around Bokura before grabbing him in a bear hug. They flipped upside down and started spinning and dropping like a boulder. Bokura wiggled his hand enough to form hang signs and started single-handed hand signs with both hands.

"Oh no," Sakura said. "at that speed, they'll both die!"

The two boys collided with the ground, no one hearing the Fuuton: Su-Pa Kaze Shi-Rudo no Jutsu(Wind Style: Super Wind Shield Jutsu). The dust settled to reveal a large crater with Lee right in the middle and Bokura in a smaller crater next to it. Lee was out cold, and it seemed like Bokura was too until his arms twitched and he started to push himself up. His teeth were grit, as if in extreme pain, but he pushed and made it to his feet. He stared ahead, not seeing anything, but feeling loads of pain. He had used the Super Wind Shield and shredded the bandages. The spin kept both going down and Lee received that damage he would have. He was pushed slightly to the side and landed, the shield protecting him a bit.

Hayate checked Lee and raised his hand. "Winner of the eighth match, Bokura Takara!" Said person suddenly had an expression of relief and he fell flat on his face.

"That was intense." Naruto stated. "I have a feeling if I went up against either of them, I would have lost."

"Same here." Sasuke said, eyes wide. Gai had gone down and checked on Lee. The boy was alive but the impact had fractured multiple bones in his spine. The medics would have a problem with it, and they doubted they could fix it. Only Tsunade of the Sannin could really fix it. Gai was crying anime tears at his student's iron will and flames of youth. Both Bokura and Lee were carried out on stretchers.

"Will Hinata Hyuuga and Neji Hyuuga please come down?" Hayate yelled, shocking everyone out of their daze.

Hinata's eyes widened as she glanced over at her cousin. He was glaring at her as he walked down to the arena. She shivered in fear and followed him down until they stood across from each other.

**9****th**** Match: Neji Hyuuga vs Hinata Hyuuga**

Neji glared at his cousin as they stood a couple tiles apart. "You should just quit here. It's clear that you weren't meant to be a kunoichi. Fates dictates that you'll lose this match." Hinata was wide-eyed and shaking. She was poking her index fingers together and glancing at various places. Neji noticed this and proceeded to state where and why she was looking and doing what she was. He continued to torture and put her down.

Naruto finally had enough and stated so. "Hey you!" He yelled. "Just shut up! Hinata! Kick his ass!"

Hinata brightened up. _Naruto-kun is..cheering...for me?_ She lowered herself into the jyuken stance and adopted a serious visage. Neji frowned and copied the stance. "Fine, if you wish to die..." He charged forward. The traded blows and blocks, neither injuring the other. It continued for two minutes until they sent a palm thrust at each other's chest. Hinata's connected and Neji's was cut short by an inch. Hinata was the one that coughed up blood, however, and Neji was fine. He took Hinata's arm and pulled her sleeve up to reveal a bunch of red spots.

"Y-You've b-been closing m-my tenketsu?" Hinata asked, scared. They backed up and she tried to fight again but Neji sent a palm thrust to her heart and she fell down.

"You try to change yourself, people can't change." Neji said. "You try to fight fate."

"Hinata is unable to continue. Neji Hyuuga wins!" Hayate said. Naruto wanted to shout, but he knew those chakra strikes to the heart were deadly.

Hinata coughed up some blood. "N-No, Neji, y-y-you are t-the one who f-fights fate. You fight the fate of the branch family."

Neji's eyes flared up with hatred and his muscles tensed. He charged at Hinata without care for the consequences. Within a second, all of the Jonin sensei were around him holding his limbs. Neji sneered. "So this is how the main branch gets treated." He spat out.

"Neji," Gai said, completely serious. "You promised you wouldn't let family matters interfere with the exam." The Jonin let go and moved away, except for Gai.

"You're lucky they stopped you, Hyuuga!" A voice growled out from in front of him. Neji turned to see Naruto with two red slitted eyes, two fingers sticking out where his eyes would've been. "Two more steps and you're be blind." Naruto growled out. Neji just huffed and turned to walk away. Naruto pulled his hand through Hinata's blood and clenched his fist. "I swear, Hyuuga Neji, on Hinata's blood, that I will defeat you and, if she wouldn't hate me for it, rip out your eyes, but she might not like me doing that to her family, no matter much they hate her." Neji sneered and walked off.

"She's going into cardiac arrest!" A medic said, panicking from behind Naruto. The blond turned around and appeared besides Hinata in a flash. _Kyuubi, can you handle fixing cardiac arrest?_ Naruto thought in his head. _**Yes, I should be able to, if not, I can limit it so the medics can heal you. **_He began a string of hand signs and ended on the fiftieth. He hovered his hands over her body. The medic saw him and frowned. "Hey you! De-blond, what are you doing!?" Naruto ignored him.

"Tenshi Gigei: Shougai Tensou(Angel Arts: Injury Transfer)!" Naruto said. Hinata began to glow and her body calmed down and her injuries disappeared, except the closed tenketsu. Naruto's body began to convulse. The medics made no move to help him. They checked Hinata and she was fine. Naruto started to calm down and his body went limp before he inhaled deeply and exhaled. "Ow, now I know what it feels like to have cardiac arrest." He fell on his rear and leaned back on his hands.

"Boy, what did you just do?" A medic asked. Naruto glared at him, since he was the one that almost called him a demon.

"I transferred all of her injuries to me and the fox healed them, leaving Hinata fine, except for her tenketsu, and me fine. It's a Tenshi Gigei, they can only be done by jinchuuriki, and you're not one." The blond replied. The medic glared at him and hefted Hinata onto the stretched to take her to rest. The blond pushed himself to his feet and shunshinned up to the balconies, too tired from the transfer to jump. Kurenai, unknown to Naruto, looked at him with a smile and a thankful expression before she ported up to her spot. All of her team had lost and gone to the infirmary, but Shino came out when Hinata went in. The bug boy asked Kurenai what happened and she was glad to explain to him. Neji sneered at the blond from a distance.

Hayate cleared his throat. "Tenth match, Sasuke Uchiha vs Dosu Kinuta!" The two boys leaped into the arena.

**10****th**** Match: Sasuke Uchiha vs Dosu Kinuta**

"Hajime!"

"So," Dosu began. "It's time to fight and I won't be holding back."

"Nor I." Sasuke stated as he lowered himself into a taijutsu stance. He watched, Sharingan off as his opponent sized him up. Sasuke decided to get it over with quick. "Dosu, I'm going to finish this quickly, so, be glad I'm merciful." Before the sound Genin could reply, Sasuke had disappeared. Dosu stood his ground and looked around, trying to see and/or hear his opponent moving. It started with the sound of metal against metal as a sword from drawn from its sheath.

Dosu immediately spun around to counter, but the sword sliced right through the bulky machine he had on his right arm and his torso. Or so everyone thought. The bisected boy disappeared in a pile of rock. _Tsuchi Bushin._ Sasuke thought. He heard a whistling sound and he jumped and turned to retaliate, but the ten objects struck his body. Two in each limb and two in the torso. The latched on, but did not break the skin.

"So much for finishing quickly." Dosu said from the other side of the arena. He metal arm pointed at Sasuke and the ten objects were connected with wires. "See, with this machine, I can use the wires to transfer the vibrations into your body." Dosu flipped a switch and a pulse of sound was sent out. Sasuke's eyes widened and his mouth opened in shock as his body was hit with the waves of sound. Blood began to seep out of his ears when Dosu felt the cool steel of a sword be driven through his arm and a kunai being held to his neck. He watched as Sasuke poofed away and craned his neck to see behind him. It was the real Sasuke. "Kage Bushin." Dosu whispered.

"Forfeit or die." Sasuke said. Dosu scoffed and unbuckled the machine before using swift moves to dodge the kunai. He landed away from Sasuke with a smirk before an object forced itself through his throat. The tip of Sasuke's Oni Yaiba(Demon Blade) was sticking out of his throat and he fell to the ground, dead.

Sasuke pulled his sword out and wiped it off on Dosu's clothes. "I gave you a choice. But you chose wrong." The Uchiha shunshinned back up to the balcony as most of the Genin were shocked that one of them could kill like that. Most, being the Rookie Nine, minus Naruto and Sakura. Team Seven just ignored the chatter as the body was picked up and carried out.

"Final Match! Zaku Abumi and Chouji Akimichi!" Hayate called out.

**11****th**** Match: Zaku Abumi vs Chouji Akimichi**

Both contestants ended up on the floor facing each other. Chouji, after he complained and Asuma promised him barbeque if he won. Chouji faced the injured sound ninja, ready to fight.

"Hajime!"

Zaku smirked and laughed. "I get to fight the fat ass?" He asked. Up in the stands, Shikamaru slapped his forehead at the Sound Genin's idiocy. Nobody called Chouji the F word. And we're not talking about fuck or any variation of it. We mean fat...

Chouji's eyes erupted in flames and he raised his fist. "I'm not fat! I'm big-boned! Hurray for chubbies!" He yelled, making a hand sign. "Baika no Jutsu(Expansion Jutsu)!" Chouji swelled up like a large ball. His head and limbs retracted into his body. "Nikudan Sensha(Human Bullet Tank)!" The large boy began to spin and charged at the injured Genin.

Zaku smirked and whipped out his, thought-to-be injured left arm and powered up. "Zankuuha!" A large blast of air exited the hole in his hand and collided with the bulky ball of Chouji. The large boy was lifted into the air by the opposing attack and started spinning faster. Zaku grit his teeth and pulled out his other arm. "Zankyokukuuha!" A massive blast of air shot from both hands and propelled Chouji into the ceiling. The hit caused a large section of the ceiling to crack and Chouji's jutsu to stop. The tubby boy fell and Zaku was barely able to move as he fell. Chouji landed on Zaku's legs and the boy fell on his face. "Son of a...!" Zaku yelled before he was silenced by a section of roof colliding with his head, sending him into blissful unconsciousness. Everyone sweatdropped at the anticlimactic battle.

After checking boy boys and calling out the medics, Hayate raised his hand and declared the match. "Double knock out. Neither Zaku, nor Chouji will be proceeding." The sickly Jonin motioned towards the stand where the Jonin and Hokage sat. Anko pulled out and box and stepped down next to Hayate while the rest of the Jonin and Sarutobi stood up to wait. "Will the ten winners please come to the floor?" He asked. The specified people walked down to stand in a line in front of the older ninjas. Hayate gestured to the box. "There is one last thing we need to do. Please draw a number from the box as Anko passes by and tell Ibiki your number." The snake Jonin walked to the beginning of the line and went down the row, letting each Chuunin-wanna-be grab a slip of paper.

After everyone was finished and told Ibiki their number, he turned a board around to show the results. The matches for the Chuunin finals would be:

**1****st**** match: Sakura Haruno(1) vs Aura Takara(2)**

**2****nd**** Match: Naruto Uzumaki(3) vs Neji Hyuuga(4)**

**3****rd**** Match: Sasuke Uchiha(5) vs Sabaku on Kankuro(6)**

**4****th**** Match: Shikamaru Nara(7) vs Sabaku no Gaara(8)**

**5****th**** Match: Bokura Takara(9) vs Tenten(10)**

Sarutobi proceeded to explain that they had a month of training time before the finals so that the village would have time to get the Daimyo and other important guests. Also, the month was to give the contestants the time to analyze what they learned about the their potential opponents and to develop new things that their opponents didn't know. After he was finished he dismissed them and the Genin were all escorted out of the forest by their Jonin sensei.

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Sasuke and Naruto were walking between the trees in the forest that led to their compound. They were a quarter mile away when they both stopped and dropped all conversation. They spun around and glared at the forest. Naruto broke the silence. "Whoever you are, come out!" He growled. At first, there was nothing, but then the trees rustled and a figure dropped to land in a crouched position.

As the figure rose to stand, his face was revealed and the boys' eyes hardened. Sasuke activated his Sharingan and glared. "Bokura Takara." He stated. "What are you doing here and how did you find us?"

Bokura smirked and his green eyes sparkled. "Two reasons actually. One, to tell you about a group that you're part of. Second, to warn you about the dangers after the third exam. The way I was able to find you was the use of my doujutsu. I'm not going to tell you what it does, I'll save that for the finals and the following dangers, but I will say it's a lesser doujutsu that doesn't compare to the three legendary ones."

"Is this group you speak of jinchuuriki, or something else?" Naruto asked. "And why would you do this when you tried to kill us back in Wave?"

Bokura chuckled. "I wasn't trying to kill you in Wave. I was merely testing you, seeing if you were the ones that were meant for the group. Turns out, you were. It is a group of four people that are assigned the job of protecting and aiding mother nature and her creatures. Two of the group have been found and the last two are you, Sasuke, Naruto."

"If you were merely testing us, then explain why you were traveling with Kinsuke." Sasuke demanded.

"Ah, you see, Kinsuke was a problem to the group that you are a part of and had stolen a very valuable artifact from the two current members. I was sent to retrieve the artifact through finding a weakness of his and exploiting it. Luckily, that came after his fight with Kakashi and I was able to safely finish my mission and dispose of the corpse. The other reason was to convince him to work for Gato, to get close to the fat man to eliminate him. His money and influence was a danger to the afore mentioned group."

"What are the benefits to being in this group and what would be expected of us?" Naruto asked, slightly suspicious.

"Asking about benefits makes me wonder if you were the right choice. However, I don't have a place in the decision. You will gain a summoning contract of a certain forest animal and a personal wolf summon. You would be expected to take missions into the forest to help when other are destroying it, its inhabitants, or, rarely, other problems." Bokura stated. "I can't tell you exactly what you do and that stuff because you still have to pass the test of the wolves."

"What if you're lying to us?" Sasuke asked, his stance looking relaxed, though he was ready to fight at any moment.

Bokura sighed. "Then you let out Kyuubi and Tenshi to rip me limb from limb. That simple."

"That simple?" Sasuke inquired. "How do you even know Tenshi's name?"

"Simple, I'm more informed that you think. I'm not even a real Suna-nin. I have no allegiance to any village, though Konoha is close because my mother and father originated from here. The group I come from has headbands for all villages along with ID cards to fake our way in if we need something. Though, I have personally registered in each village as a Genin. We're a neutral organization that tends to favor peaceable villages, though we have sided with waring countries in order to maintain the balance of the five great nations."

"So then, what's the name of this organization?" Naruto asked. "And would we know your parents?"

Bokura shook his head and chuckled. "My parents no longer live in the village. My father left and became a nukenin and my mother got together with another man and had my sister. Three years after she was born, her father sold our mother out to my father and we've never seen her since. It goes to say that I want to kill Aura's father with my own hands, but unfortunately, he got away. I have a lead on his location, but that doesn't concern Konoha since he's not a threat or a nukenin of the Leaf. Now, the organization I come from is one that has a non-aggression pact with all of the villages. We can freely enter and leave, but we use the fake headbands and cards to attain information and to help uncover coups and harmful undercover organizations, like Konoha's Root. But they aren't a problem...yet."

"We'll agree." Sasuke stated. "But, we will have Kakashi-sensei with us while we go."

Bokura frowned. "That would be okay, but while you're doing the testing, neither me, nor Kakashi can be witness to it. You'll be taken elsewhere with the wolves while we have to wait."

"That's reasonable." Sasuke said. "Now, about this danger. If it's a threat to Konoha, we will bring it to the Hokage's attention, with or without you."

Bokura sighed and rubbed his temples. "That's fine, I would've had to tell him eventually or else the hidden-nin captain would have my head on a platter. Let's go. The sooner I get this done, the sooner I can check with the chief wolf and set up your tests for tomorrow." Naruto and Sasuke nodded as they all shunshinned outside of Sarutobi's office.

The secretary looked up. Naruto stepped forward and she scowled lightly. "We have an urgent matter for the Hokage involving a potential threat in the near future."

The woman scowled and was about to run the 'demon brat' off but a cough from Sasuke got her attention and her facade became neutral. She seemed divided on the issue but sighed. "Hokage-sama is currently available, knock before entering, you know the process."

The Genin nodded and walked down the hall a bit and knocked on a large oaken set of double doors. A faint 'come in' notified them and they opened the door, careful to keep Bokura between them and in sight range.

Sarutobi looked up when his guests entered and was surprised to see Naruto and Sasuke along with one of the Suna Chuunin Exam contestants. He looked surprised. "Naruto, Sasuke, I was about to send out for your two in a couple of hours. I can go ahead and tell you soon then. Now, what do you and your friend need of me?" He asked a kindly smile on his face.

Naruto motioned to Bokura. "He has some information about a danger to Konoha soon. He's from the hidden-nin."

"Ah, I see." Sarutobi said. "Kubora Katara. I should have figured you'd reveal yourself to someone eventually."

Bokura looked shocked. "You knew?" He asked, incredulously. But he shook his head and waved it off. "In any case, what I have to tell you can wait until after you're done with these two."

Sarutobi close his eyes and took a puff on his pipe. "Well, Naruto, this deals with your family. Would you want Bokura present or not?"

Naruto, surprised that the Hokage had known about Bokura, was further surprised. His first instinct would be a no, but since the Hokage knew about Bokura's stance and was perfectly fine with him, Naruto was okay too. "It's okay, oji-san." Naruto said. "He can be here."

"Very well. Naruto, this is something that I've found among Tsunade's old records. Nobody else has access to these, not even the conniving Danzo, so this is completely between us four. Naruto, Sasuke, you're brothers..."

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**Hrm, in my opinion, that's the best cliffhanger I've ever made...**

**In any case, this update was delayed because I was having a LOT of trouble writing Sasuke's battle with Dosu. In the end, I decided to go with sweet and simple to save room for the rest of what I added.**

**One more chapter! After I post chapter thirteen, I'll have over 100,000 words! That's my first goal as a fanfic writer.**

**I've gotten over 6000 HITS, which is good since this is my first serious fanfic. There's been 37 reviews, 29 favorites, and 39 alerts. There's even been one CC! I never expected that! I even passed my own 'most reviews per chapter' limit. I managed to get five reviews on chapter 4.**

**Anyway, your reviews motivate me, so don't hesitate to do it, though, I prefer if you say more than it's just good. But, if you're like me, sometimes it's hard to find something longer to say.**

**R&R or Dumbledore will be Sarutobi's long lost brother, Lord Voldemort will be Orochimaru's father, and Aura will be the song of Draco Malfoy!**


	13. Secrets Abound

**Rawr, I like typing up large paragraphs that take a while to read :3**

**Gawd, so sorry it took so long. I had a bad case of writer's block in various places...**

**This Chapter takes me to over 100k words! Woot!**

**-- Chapters: 13 -- Words: 100,270 -- Reviews: 40 -- Hits: 7314 -- C2's: 1 -- Favs: 33 -- Alerts: 42 --  
**

**-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto or anything I take from other animes or mangas.**

**Started****: June 28, 2008**

**Worked On****: June 29, 2008; July, 6, 2008**

**Finished****: July 9, 2008**

**Total Days Worked****: 4 Days**

**Start to Finish****: 11 Days**

**-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-**

**Chapter 13****: Secrets Abound**

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"WHAT!?" Naruto and Sasuke yelled in unison. Bokura arched an eyebrow in confusion and interest.

Sarutobi nodded and settled back in his seat. "It's true. Naruto, I'll begin with who your parents are. Your mother was a refuge from the once glamorous Whirlpool village in Whirlpool country. They were hit hard when the Sanbi no Isonade attacked a place close to them. They ended being very weakened and then Kumo took the chance and wiped the village out completely. Your mother was one of the few people to escape and the only of her clan to do so. She was Kushina Uzumaki. After she arrived here, she joined the shinobi program and quickly rose through the ranks to ANBU. You know Naruto, a lot of your fighting style and attitude comes from your mother, the hyperactivity and, though lessened, use of Kage Bushin. She was stressed from childbirth and Kyuubi's attack so she passed on. But, strangely, the body disappeared shortly before the funeral ceremony. Luckily, it wasn't bandits or some sick people. Kakashi's teammate, Rin, was close friends with your mother and said she buried her where she belonged. The village was going to disgrace her and you by just dumping her a ditch because of the Kyuubi problem, those bastards." Sarutobi sighed and rubbed his temples. "Luckily, they didn't do anything about her disappearance because of their views. She was buried peacefully. You're father was Minato Namikaze."

"The fourth Hokage!?" Sasuke asked in disbelief. Naruto's eyes widened and his gaze shifted to a picture of the Yondaime on the wall.

"Hai..." Sarutobi sighed. "I wasn't supposed to tell you or anyone until you were strong enough to protect yourself from his enemies. This is not the occasion as you would still have a lot of trouble with some people. I told you because you needed to know. I felt you were mature enough to understand why he sealed Kyuubi into you and that, with Sasuke's help, would be able to fend off any enemies that manage to figure it out. Minato was a joyous man and was a lot like you Naruto. He cared for the little people, orphans and the less fortunate. He had an inane desire to protect justice and protect his precious people." He sighed and let the silence hang in the air.

Naruto's head was bowed and his hair covered his eyes. Small drops of water could be seen dropping on the floor. It was silent until Naruto lifted his head and everyone saw his face. He smiled and wiped away the tears. "He did it to protect the village and because he believe I could contain her. If my father was anything like me, he would have thought something was wrong with Kyuubi anyways, since she was Fire Country's guardian. Sealing her was probably a way to keep her from dying but also breaking whatever had a grip on her." Sarutobi arched an eyebrow, he was surprised. That was exactly was Minato had thought and done. "Thanks for telling me, ojisan, about my family."

Sarutobi smiled. "It was needed, and besides, there's still the other part of your family that I have yet to tell you." The two boys perked up, remembering what he said to start the conversation off. Sarutobi motioned to Sasuke. "Sasuke here, if your half-brother, Naruto. I'll explain. After Itachi was born and he turned out to be a genius, the Uchiha clan, in a desperate grasp for power, stole Minato's...seed and implanted it in Mikoto, Sasuke's mother. They were hoping that the Uchiha's _superior_ genes and those of the Namikaze would create a super genius to give their clan power. It failed, or so they thought. This is also the reason that Sasuke's hair isn't straight like most Uchiha. His hair is spiked because of Minato's genes. This, along with the sealing of Tenshi inside of Sasuke, led to the Uchiha clan's demise." Sarutobi said in a sad tone.

"You mean, because they stole the Yondaime's seed and sealed Tenshi so they could gain power, Itachi murdered them all!?" Sasuke asked, angry.

"Partially correct." Sarutobi said. "Sasuke, I had wanted to tell this to you after you attained Jonin but I've decided to move it up. The Uchiha clan was killed because I ordered it." The Uchiha's eyes widened and his Sharingan immediately activated and he tried to attack Sarutobi. Naruto and Bokura held him back. They kept a hold on him until he settled down and tears started falling down his face.

"Why?" He asked, sitting on the floor. "Why..."

The aging Hokage sighed. "It wasn't an easy decision, but I had to do it for Konoha's own good. The Uchiha clan was plotting a coup d'etat. We received this information from an inside observant, Itachi Uchiha. It was further proved when the hidden-nin contacted us and told me of it. The mission was a secret operation and only five people knew of it. Those five were myself, my two teammates, Homura and Koharu, Danzo, and Itachi Uchiha himself. I issued the order myself a week before it happened. He was supposed to spare you, Mikoto, and your cousin. Unfortunately, Mikoto wasn't in agreement with the operation and was eliminated by the Uchiha council four hours before the massacre even began. Your cousin, Minori, disappeared during the massacre and even Itachi didn't know her whereabouts. She is assumed deceased as she also defied the council." Sasuke just slumped to the ground and cried. Naruto, Sarutobi, and Bokura remained in a respectful silence.

Sasuke sat there for ten minutes before he forced himself to his feet and dried his eyes. "Were they really the bad? I never knew. And...Minori...she was eight at the time. She was my favorite cousin...I'm glad she and my mother weren't a part of the plans."

Sarutobi sighed, he had to get this out for Sasuke to understand. "They were that bad Sasuke, I'm sorry to say. Out of the two hundred or so assassination attempts on Naruto at the time, the Uchiha were a part of one hundred and fifty of them. They were even under the orders of the Uchiha council to do it. They saw Naruto as a threat to their power and to yourself until you gained the powers of Tenshi. They had many convert attempts at taking over, none could be proved. Until Itachi became our spy and relayed it back. They were even planning to join Orochimaru to help them in exchange for the death of Naruto and you being given to him. Itachi couldn't handle it and immediately told me. The Uchiha, aside from a few, were not the royal and loyal force that the village saw them as."

Sasuke absorbed the information and stored it away. He straightened himself up and calmed himself down. To fully understand why his brother did what he did was shocking. For his whole life, Sasuke had hated his brother for killing the clan and was set on killing him, but now...That was all thrown out the window. Itachi wasn't a bad guy. Sasuke didn't want to kill him. His life was thrown out of whack. Sasuke pushed it all to the back of his mind to contemplate later. Right now, Bokura had information vital to Konoha's survival. "I'm good now." Sasuke said as he sighed. "Let's go ahead."

Sarutobi nodded. "Very well. Bokura, what do you wish to warn us about?" he asked.

Bokura closed his eyes and sighed. "Orochimaru is planning an invasion during the third exam." this shocked all three of his audience. "He tried to get Sand on his side by convincing them that Konoha is the reason they don't get enough missions. He plans to kill the Kazekage before he leaves for the exams and take his place. Sound and Sand will attack during Sasuke and Gaara's fight. He's confident both will end up fighting and Gaara will be his key player. He wants Gaara to unleash Shukaku and destroy the village. Recently, he was trying to convince Kumo to help in the attack, but negotiations weren't good with them for a while. I think he wants their jinchuuriki to help in the attack as well. I don't know his full plans, but his goals are your death, getting Sasuke to come to him for power, and the destruction of the leaf. "

"I see, this is big. Jiraiya's spy network has been digging up stuff about an attack plan lately." Sarutobi said, deep in thought. "We'll have to set up counter measures to fight and stop the attack, but we'll have to make sure he doesn't suspect us of knowing. Complicated."

Bokura shook his head. "I'm not good at the planning stuff, but I'll help a bit. Sound nin plan to summon large snakes to the northeast while everyone is at the stadium on the southwest side. I would recommend having Jiraiya there to stop them as well as having Naruto and Sasuke battle Gaara and/or the Kumo jinchuuriki if they help."

Sarutobi nodded. "That's the easy part, though. We'll have to set up for the rest though. I will contact all the Jonin once a plan is established and we'll prepare. You just do your part when it comes. Now, Bokura, your record in the village seems to lack the family information. I do not recall ever hearing of a Takara clan."

Bokura's face was set in a stoic state. "My sister, as you know, is Aura Takara. Our mother's name was Shion Takara. Her status, presumed deceased. Aura's father was someone named Hidan. My father was...well, actions speak more than words..." Bokura closed his eyes for a second before forcing them open. His eyes were no longer green. They were yellow with a slit in them. "I'm sure this explains perfectly who my bastard of a father is. I would appreciate it if you conveniently left that out of my profile and kept it to yourself. I don't need the idiots thinking I'm the man's reincarnation or clone. I already know how this village treats what they don't understand."

Sarutobi sighed. "That was unexpected, but I'll keep the information secret. Naruto, Sasuke, both of you are forbidden from telling of Bokura's origins without his permission. If that is all, you may leave."

"Hai." They said in unison before they left.

Once they were outside of the tower Bokura stopped. The other two did as well. The wind master made a shrill whistle with his fingers and a figure landed next to him.

"Yes, niisan?" Aura asked, smiling. Bokura smiled back and ruffled her hair, making her pout.

"Imoto, I need you to retrieve the Vice Captain to help during the invasion. We'll need his help if we're to keep Sarutobi alive."

"Gotcha, niisan!" Aura said, saluting. "I'll have him here right away!" She turned and disappeared underground.

Bokura turned to the two leaf Genin. "This is where we part. I need to get things set up for the Fukutaicho's arrival. Also, I'd recommend spending some time with Kumei and trying to keep her safe. She's hanging around with Anko and she's bound to start picking up some bad habits. Ciao!" Bokura turned and disappeared in a swirl of wind. Naruto and Sasuke just stared until the message sunk in.

"There's going to be a second Anko!?" Naruto asked panicking. "Quick, Sasuke, we need to get home and reinforce the bomb shelter!"

"What bomb shelter?" Sasuke asked, confused.

"The one with the Icha Icha!" Naruto almost shouted. Sasuke eyes widened. He didn't like the books for the porn. The books had good plot lines and not as much sex as one would first suspect, but it was still a lot. In any case, the girl would likely destroy them and that would be the start of World War One in the Uchiha-Uzumaki household.

"What are we waiting for!?" Sasuke shouted. He grabbed Naruto's shoulder and the two shunshinned away.

-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-

A lone figure stood on a high hill, looking over the large village of Konoha. He wore a black cloak with red clouds on it. On his head sat a Chinese straw hat with string that hid his face from view. His irises glowed a pure red. This red was blood red, unlike the Sharingan, and had no pupil at all.

In a swirl of wind, a second figure appeared. "They are both low Jonin level but their chakra levels are off the charts." The guy said.

"They're getting strong fast." The cloaked guy said. "Bokura, let's go. We must tell Leader-sama of our discoveries." The cloaked figure turned and walked away with Bokura following.

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It was night and Naruto was sitting inside of his mindscape with Kyuubi. They had erected a wall between the two tenants for Naruto and Sasuke's privacy. Naruto was sitting on a couch next to Kyuubi. The blond was conflicted. He wanted to hate his father for making him go through a life of misery, but he just couldn't because it was the only choice.

Naruto leaned back into the couch and sighed. "I want to hate him, but I just can't." Naruto said. "Even if he caused me all that misery by sealing you in me, he's my father and he allowed me the power to protect those precious to me."

Kyuubi sighed, she wasn't used to dealing with Naruto in an emotional state. "Naruto, it's okay to hate him for sealing me into you, but since he's your father, it's impossible to completely hate him. Even Bokura would have a grudging respect for Orochimaru, though he would never admit it because the snake is a bastard." She sighed, she couldn't do this shit.

"I know Kyuu, but it's hard. I want to forgive him, but a part of me resists." Naruto pulled his legs up to his chest. "And Sasuke, to find out that he's my brother, even more, that Itachi isn't the bad guy he thought he was, Sasuke must be breaking down."

_Kyuu?_ Kyuubi asked herself. "The only way you could ever fully forgive your father is if you were able to talk to him. That's not possible, so you'll have to deal with it, or come to terms with yourself. Minato did everything he could to protect Konoha at the time while making sure that you could protect it in his stead in the future." Kyuubi wrapped her arms around the boy and patted him on the back. Naruto didn't seem to notice it, but he relaxed in her embrace. "And Sasuke will have to deal with his own demons but, we're here to help and Tenshi is there to help him. He'll pull through, just give him some time." Naruto nodded and leaned into the fox's embrace. They just sat there for a bit as Naruto tried to come to terms within himself about his father. It wasn't long before the exhaustion caught up to Naruto and he fell asleep in his mindscape. Kyuubi laid him down on the couch with his head in her lap. _The poor boy,_ She thought. _He's had to go through so much and it was because of my attack. He can't even fully forgive his father. This is my fault, I need to help him to at least try and make up for what I've caused him._ Kyuubi absentmindedly ran her hands through Naruto's hair in a soothing way. She soon fell asleep too.

-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-

Sasuke was huddled on a white couch in Tenshi's cage. He was crying and the angel was holding him in a comforting embrace. Sasuke was crying for two reasons. One, because his whole life had been wasted training to kill Itachi. All that time wasted. All the training and hatred, worthless.

"_I train to grow stronger and protect my friends!"_ A voice yelled in the distance. Sasuke's head shot up and he looked around. _"I want to become the Hokage so everyone will acknowledge me and so that I can protect the whole village!"_ Sasuke continued looking around while Tenshi seemed unaware of the voice.

"Who's there?" Sasuke asked. _What was that? Am I going insane?_ He asked himself.

"Sh, Sasuke-kun." Tenshi said. "Those were two memories of Naruto that were awakened by your despair." She just held the boy and rubbed his back. Sasuke may seem mature and older than he is, but he's still a thirteen year old.

Sasuke lowered his head. _That's right. Naruto grows stronger so that he can protect those precious to him. And I still have to help Naruto become Hokage...My friend...my brother, I will help you grow stronger and we'll protect our friends and this village, together!_ Tenshi just smiled knowingly. _Naruto, I will grow stronger with you. I will find Itachi and I will do all I can to help the both of you. Maybe we can get Ita...aniki, back in the village. Sarutobi said it was a mission and thus it can be justified by the law. I'm coming brother._ That leads to the second reasons Sasuke was crying earlier and still crying, though now with a smile. He was glad his aniki was innocent, as much as someone like Itachi can get, anyways. The Uchiha slayer wasn't the big bad guy that Sasuke thought he was. _Aniki is still aniki..._ Sasuke passed out on the couch with a smile on his face. Tenshi smiled softly and laid the boy down on her lap, much like Kyuubi did with Naruto, and let the boy sleep.

-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-

"Kabuto." A smooth voice said, almost like a snake. The Leaf Genin with the purple clothing, glasses, and gravity-defying white hair appeared from the darkness around the man.

"Yes, Orochimaru-sama?" Kabuto asked.

"Bring the Oni Squad in the invasion. Bokura is going to be there and I think it's time we gave those Hidden-nin a hit. Their orders are to kill him and his sister while killing anyone else in the way."

Kabuto smirked and pushed his glasses up his nose. "I think they will be more than happy to do the job." The spy faded out and left Orochimaru by himself.

"Kukuku, Bokura-kun. Let's see how much you've grown." Orochimaru chuckled to himself. "You were an accident that I wasn't able to turn around. You mother is out of the way, you and Sarutobi-sensei** are next!**" Orochimaru laughed out, his voice changing to a deep growl near the end.

-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-

"What the hell is his problem!?" Naruto growled out in frustration. He and Sasuke had met up with Bokura and were now waiting for Kakashi to arrive. They'd been waiting for an hour and Naruto and getting frustrated. Sasuke and Bokura just ignored him.

It was a few minutes later when Kakashi arrived. There a fuming Naruto being held back by his teammate and one of the Sand Genin. _Why are they hanging out with an enemy?_ He turned to the blond and his captor. "So, what am I here for?" He asked.

Sasuke let go of Naruto when he calmed down. "We had you come, sensei, to make sure that these tests aren't a trick of Bokura's." With a calmed blond, Bokura led them into the forest on an unmarked route

After a couple of minutes, Naruto decided to break the silence. "So, Bokura, how did you come upon these trials?" Naruto asked, curious.

Bokura moved his hand to his chin in a thinking position. "I suppose I can tell you how I figured out, but not what they entail. Well then, here goes my story..."

-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-

_A ten year old Bokura was sleeping peacefully on a soft bed for the first time in forever. His sleep, however, was being interrupted by a nudging on his face. He tried to block it out but it stubbornly continued. Finally, after two minutes of ignoring it, Bokura's eyes snapped open to reveal a large wolf. The overall size was at least twice as big as the average wolf but his fur seemed much softer and its eyes were calm and a combination of green and yellow. Its fur was a beautiful mix of snow white and pitch black._

_Bokura was about to piss himself until logic showed he was safe._

"_Ningen." The wolf said. Now, Bokura thought it was a dream or a hallucination, but his mind told him he was awake. "You are different than most, ningen. Why do you not cower like instincts should say?" Bokura just stared at the wolf. The piercing eyes staring into his own._

"_Well...logically, if you wanted to hurt or kill me, you would've done it while I was asleep instead of trying to wake me up." He replied. The wolf seemed to nod to itself._

"_I see. You are different than most. You have a connection to Nature. Why is that?"_

_Bokura arched an eyebrow. "I dunno. Maybe it runs in the family? I don't really know much about any of my family besides me and my sister."_

"_That girl has a connection too, but hers is no where near yours. Yours is off the charts for your age. Tell me, what is Nature to you?"_

_Bokura shrugged. "Nature is precious, I guess. I avoid killing animals, though I will if I need to survive, that's how the food chain works, but I try to avoid harming animals or plants. And most of the time, animals can vaguely understand what I ask of them." The wolf nodded._

"_You are worthy of the tests." He said before jumping off of the bed onto the floor. Bokura sat up and stretched._

"_Tests?" He asked, climbing out of bed and tying his hair into a ponytail. He already had his clothes on, he slept in them._

"_Hai." The wolf replied. "If a ningen is deemed worthy, they are given three tests to determine if they are right for the task of the Shugo-Neichaa(Nature Safeguard)."_

"_Could I refuse the position?" Bokura asked._

"_I suppose." The wolf said, confused._

"_Okay then, let's start these tests." Bokura said, putting on his zoris. "I just wanted to know if I was being forced into it." The wolf nodded at that._

"_First, your name, young one. I am Kakeru(To Dash/Run)." Said the wolf, with a slight bow._

"_I'm Bokura Takara." He stood up and smirked. "And I'm going to become a Shugo-Neichaa."_

"_Pretty confident you are." The wolf said, smirking as much as a wolf could. "Let's go then." Kakeru jumped out of the opened window and sped out of town at a pace that a human could keep up with. Bokura followed quickly. They ran for about five minutes before stopping in a field. From the shadows of the forest came a second wolf, this one female. Her fer was a mix of violet and black, contrast to her silvery eyes._

"_Hello young one, I am Fuhennori(Eternal Truth). I will be testing you today."_

-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-

"And that's my short tale." Bokura said, hands behind head. Sasuke and Naruto were wondering what the tests included.

"Ne, Bokura," Naruto began. "Why didn't wolves come and get us like they did you?" He asked, confused.

Bokura smirked. "Because I was the first Shugo-Neichaa. There weren't any others to come and get me, so their messenger had to. I was sent to get the second, and I was set to find you two. Imagine how lucky I was to find you both in Wave. The only problem was getting close enough to you to actually convince to take the tests."

"Who's the other member, then?" Sasuke asked.

"Ah, can't tell you that. You'll find out in due time. In fact, very soon. He's the Vice Captain of the Hidden-nin and is coming for the final part of the Chuunin exams. I doubt either of you would recognize him." Bokura stated, plainly. "But, Kakashi might. He disappeared from the village ten years ago without becoming a nukenin." Kakashi came up blank. Bokura chuckled as Kakashi's expression, though guarded, showed a bit of confusion. He stopped and spread his arms wide. "We're here! This is the meeting place. Now, let's see." He raised his arm up to look at his watch. He chuckled at Team Seven's looks. "I decided to pick this baby up yesterday evening. Telling time with the sun is not my style. But, she should be here in two minutes. We arrived early!"

"Kakashi-sensei?" Sasuke asked. He continued when the pervert acknowledged him. "Are you going to train us for the third exam?"

Kakashi shook his head and set his book down. "No, I'm going to be training _you_. I can't train Naruto. But, Hokage-sama has recommended someone. But, knowing him, Naruto might have to convince him since he'll be a bit unwilling. You're supposed to meet him outside of the hot springs tomorrow at noon."

Naruto arched an eyebrow. "Is he a good teacher?"

"Well, when you meet him, ask who he taught before you, you'll find out if he is." Kakashi said, brining his book back up to his face.

"Hello there, ningen, and Bokura-kun." A voice said. Everyone turned to the other side of the clearing to see a purple and black wolf walk out. "I am Fuhennori. I will be testing you today." Bokura waved to the wolf while Naruto and Sasuke stood up and stepped forward. Fuhennori rose to their waist in height. "You will have three tests: Ability, Will, and Heart. Come." The fox turned around and the three disappeared into the darkness.

"Where are they going?" Kakashi asked, a bit worried, though he didn't show it.

Bokura shrugged. "I'm not sure of the name or location, but it's the den of the Wolf Clan. They'll be in one of the training grounds. This could take up to an hour or more, depending on how well they do." The hidden-nin settled himself against a tree, preparing for a nap.

-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-

"Hey, boy, you okay?" A voice called out. Naruto just groan and waved the voice away. However, it was persistent. The blond rubbed his head in anger.

"What!?" He shouted sitting up. He looked around and found no one. "Where are you? Show yourself!" He growled, kunai at ready.

"I'm not hiding!" The voice said. He was no able to identify it as a light voice coming from a small person, like a child.

"Then where are you!?" Naruto asked, spinning around. He saw Sasuke's sleeping form and memories came back to him, causing him to ignore the voice. _The tests._ He thought to himself. The first test was simple. Race a wolf and at least keep up with them without killing them or damaging any trees. It started with Naruto lagging behind, badly. But he was able to catch up and even pass the wolf. But then the wolf put on a burst of speed and Naruto lost. But he had been just a foot or two behind his opponent and passed that part of the trials.

The second part involved will. A wolf was injured and unable to run. You had nothing to protect you or the wolf with but you couldn't let the wolf get hurt. There were unknown enemies that were flinging rocks, twigs, anythign they could get their hands on. Naruto had placed himself in front of the wolf and took all of the damage himself. Kyuubi was able to heal it, but he could still feel some phantom pain.

The third part of the test involved heart. A possessed wolf came out and killed Sasuke. This was the hardest test for anyone to pass. There was a raging storm overhead and after the wolf killed Sasuke, it had run. Unluckily for it, a lightning bolt hit a tree and trapped it under it. Naruto was bubbling with rage and starting to draw on Kyuubi's chakra. He rushed towards the wolf and watched as the wolf struggled to get out. It wasn't until the wolf turned to him to ask for help in a pitiful, childish, even, tone. Naruto saw the eyes and noticed the pure innocence of the wolf. It wasn't the wolf that killed Sasuke, the controller did. In the end, Naruto moved the tree trunk and saved the wolf.

After that, the world seemed to warp and Naruto found himself in front of Fuhennori. She told him he'd passed the tests and that Sasuke wasn't really dead. She teleported with him again and he passed out.

"Oi! Stop ignoring me!" The high voice yelled, sounding miffed. Naruto was able to pinpoint the direction of the voice this time and quickly flipped his head back to look up. What he saw was a robin that was flapping frantically to regain its balance. "What was that for!?" It screamed.

"Did you just...talk?" Naruto asked, confused. The bird settled down on the ground and straightened a few feathers. It turned with what the blond could understand was a glare.

"Yes I did. I was just trying to be nice and I go getting flung about." It said, glaring at the blond boy.

Naruto rubbed the back of his head and smiled sheepishly. "Sorry, I'm not used to having animals talk to me." Naruto stopped for a second. "Why _can_ animals talk to me? I could never understand them before."

The robin tilted its head but was stopped as a groan came from the body of the Sasuke. The Uchiha pushed himself up on his hands and leaned back into a sitting position. He sighed and looked around as his gaze focused itself. His gaze passed over the blond and the bird. "What the hell?" He asked, confused. "This scene is like something from a child's fairy tales." He looked around to see that clearing was peaceful, even with the various sounds of animals and the light breeze. The sun was shining through the treetops, making the clearly glow in a yellow hue.

"As if," Naruto scoffed. "Fairy tales are for kids without tragic pasts. We're stuck in reality." Sasuke turned to Naruto and shook his head.

"Is he okay?" the robin asked. Naruto shook his head and shrugged his shoulders.

Sasuke glared at the blond. "I'm fine." He said, before his mind could comprehend exactly who had asked. He arched an eyebrow as he looked at the bird. "Huh? Are you sure we're awake? I could have sworn I heard that robin speak."

"You're very much awake, Sasuke." A voice came form the forest behind them. They turned to see Bokura and Kakashi approaching.

"Kakashi-sensei?" Naruto asked. "How long were we out?"

Bokura ignored him and sighed. "Seems Fuhennori still has as bad of aim as ever. She transported you guys two hundred yards off target." Bokura shook his head an tsk'ed. "Naruto, Sasuke, you, apparently, passes the challenges. A couple of things you need to know. You will be able to talk to most animals because of your new connection to nature as a safeguard. You will even be able to sense the plant equivalent of feelings if they're extreme enough. But that is rare. Your full duties are not frequent and will be learned as time passes by. Now, I think this robin here was sent to inform you of some specific details."

The robin nodded. "The Nishi no Shugo-Neichaa(Nature Safeguard of the West) is correct. The blond first. You are the Kita no Shugo-Neichaa(Nature Safeguard of the North). You're personal wolf summon is Aikou(Love). When they went to find the best summon contract for you, they said that the fox contract seemed to 'call out' for you. Weird. Now, the duck head..." It said, causing everyone bar Sasuke to chuckle. "You are the Minami no Shugo-Neichaa(Nature Safeguard of the South). You're personal wolf summon is Shiki(Determination). Your summon contract was signed with the ferrets."

"Ferrets?" Kakashi asked, curiously.

Bokura's eyes lit up. "Oh, ferrets are so damn cool. Lucky you, Sasuke! But I digress, my contract is fine too." He smirked. "But I think I'll keep that a secret for now."

"Ferrets are perfect." Naruto said. "They are silent and tricky, just like Sasuke. They seem to escape your grasp right before the fist comes down. And they're similar to weasels, which his brother's name stands for."

Sasuke nodded. "Ferrets are perfect, but half of those things could describe you too, blondie." Sasuke said with a hint of humor. "And the strange thing is, Itachi's summon contract is ravens. But it is fitting."

"However amusing it is to see you two compare your selves to animals, I'm sure you'd prefer to use the time to train." Kakashi suggested. The two boys stood up and, with a wave, the robin left. "Now, Sasuke, we'll be heading to the compound to get a few supplies before we begin. Naruto, you'll need to find your trainer. Like I said, he'll be around the hot springs. He has long white hair and his name is Jiraiya."

Naruto nodded and stretched, popping his back. "Yeah, yeah. I'll go find him to train. Ja ne!" Naruto disappeared in a plume of smoke as the other three ninja nodded to each other.

"Ciao!" Bokura said with a smile before he disappeared in a violent swirl of wind. Kakashi just placed his hand on Sasuke's shoulder and shunshinned them to the compound to gather some things.

-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-

Naruto had his hands behind his head as he left the hot springs. He was getting annoyed he'd visited every hot spring in town and the guy wasn't in any of them. "Damn it, where the hell is this guy!?" Naruto growled out in frustration. "GAH!?"

The blond stopped trying to tear his hair out when a peculiar sound reached his ears. It sounded like a child's...giggling. He turned and found a white-haired man sitting by the fence of the hot spring, peeking through a hole in the fence and writing in a little notebook. He was wearing odd clothing, a red vest with a forest green colored ninja getup. On his feet were geta sandles and his long, spiky, white hair reached down to at least his lower back, possibly his knees. On his back was a massive scroll.

Naruto secretly made a clone that immediately took off as the blond walked up to the man. "Oi!" He almost shouted. It was loud enough to scare the man but not loud enough to alert the women inside. The white-haired man looked up to see the frowning blond. "What the hell do you think you're doing?" He asked, growling.

"I'm doing research." The man stated in a semi-deep voice. "Go bug someone else. I have work to do." He turned back to the fence and began writing again.

Naruto developed a tick mark on his temple and raised his fist into the air. He launched it at the old man, aiming for his head. To Naruto's disappointment and shock, he fell through the man and face-planted on the cobblestone pathway. "What the hell..." He mumbled, pushing himself back up while rubbing his face. Naruto looked up as a shadow fell across his face to see the pervert standing at a high six foot four inches. Naruto glared at the man and pushed himself. "Who the hell are you, anyways?"

The old man grinned and jumped back. "I'm the gama-sennin(Toad Sage), but don't let that fool you. It's just a disguise!" He jumped onto one foot and began a disturbing dance. He grabbed the bang of his hair and started swinging his head around, causing his long hair to whip around his head. "I will tell you my true identity! I am the man who has no enemies in the North, South, East and West. Not even in the heavens!" He grabbed his massive scroll and launched it into the sky. "I am one of the Sannin..." A cloud of smoke erupted and covered the man, clearing to reveal his standing on top of a large orange toad. "White-haired frog tamer. Even a crying baby would stare in awe...The Great Jiraiya!" He finished his introduction with a little jig, leaving him standing on one foot with one palm pointing out front and the other pointing to his right. "That is me." He said, watching the blond. Naruto just stood there, looking confused. "Jiraiya." He tried again. He became depressed and hung his head.

Naruto's eyes lit up. "Oh!" He exclaimed. "You're the Jiraiya I was told to find for training!" The blond said excitedly. Jiraiya just raised an eyebrow.

"And why would I train you, Gaki?" The man asked.

Naruto frowned but remembered something. "Why would I want you to train me...Kakashi-sensei said I should ask who you taught before."

Jiraiya sighed. "My last student and apprentice was Minato Namikaze, the Yondaime Hokage. It's just too bad he had to go down fighting the Kyuubi. I would've done the finishing ritual to kill the fox, but he refused, saying it was his job as Hokage."

Naruto's eyes widened. "You trained my father!?" He exclaimed before quickly covering his mouth and cursing inside his head. _Damn it! Stupid, stupid!_ Jiraiya's own eyes widened as he looked back at the boy. The blond hair and blue eyes, it was definitely his son. Nobody else in the village even came close to that color of hair or eyes. Then, there were the whisker marks that denoted him the jinchuuriki of the Kyuubi.

"You're Minato's son?" Jiraiya asked, surprised. "In all honesty, I'd thought you were dead, considering your condition."

Naruto cross his arms and scowled. "Psh, stupid villagers aren't going to get rid of me that easily. I'm not Hokage yet!" He yelled. Jiraiya sighed. He really didn't want to take on another student, but he owed it to Minato. "Besides," Naruto continued. "I'll use what they fear so much, to help protect them. If they're to damned blind to see I'm not the fox, they can shove it."

"Alright, fine boy, I'll train you. I owe it to your father anyways." The old man shrugged his shoulders and started walking away into the woods. Naruto didn't know what he was supposed to do, so he just followed. Jiraiya led the blond through the woods and into a clearing with a wide river running through it.

"We'll start here." Jiraiya began, turning to his charge. "Do you know how to walk on water?"

"Of course!" Naruto immediately stepped out onto the waters and stood on the surface easily.

"Good, now we're going to need to teach you how to draw on the fox's chakra so you can..." Jiraiya trailed off as he saw Naruto's arm covered in the chakra. "Well then, you're ahead of the pack. What I'm going to teach you is something that will come in handy with Kyuubi's chakra, summoning."

Naruto's eyes sparkled. "Really!? I just got a contract earlier. I meant to ask Kakashi-sensei is he could teach me the hand signs, but I kinda forgot."

_This boy already has a contract?_ Jiraiya asked himself. _He's definitely something. One person can't sign two contracts. If I was going to give him the toad contract, he'd have to gain Gamabunta's blessing. Since it's not a physical contract, it would require twice the amount of chakra normally needed._ "You're pretty well off for a Genin. In any case, I was going to let you sign the toad contract, but that isn't going to work. One person can hold one contract each. But, we can still get you summoning toads without it. It will just take you twice, or more, as it normally would."

Naruto pouted a bit at that, but then grinned again. "Not to worry about that, I can use Kyuubi's chakra for summoning only and mine for everything else."

Jiraiya nodded. "That will work fine, as long as you can call it up and your control is decent enough, you'll be fine. Now, before we begin practicing, I'm going to summon Gamabunta so we can attempt to get you his blessing. He might be a bit miffed at me, so I'd stand back."

"Wait, ero-sennin(Pervert Sage/Hermit)." Naruto said, making Jiraiya face-fault.

The hermit jumped back to his feet and shook his fist at the blond. "What the hell are you calling me that for!?"

Naruto rolled his eyes. "Because you are a pervy sage. Now, I wanted to know if you could teach me one of my dad's jutsu." The blond looked up at the twice-his-height man with puppy dog eyes.

Jiraiya backed up a bit, scared. "Well, technically, summoning was one of your father's jutsu, but..." _He only made two official jutsu himself. I could try and teach the Rasengan._ "I guess I'll teach you one of his own techniques." He held out his hand and brilliant blue ball of chakra began to spin at high speeds in every direction, being contained in just the tennis-ball sized sphere. "This is the Rasengan, a difficult jutsu and a seal-less one. I doubt you'll be able to learn it before the Chuunin exam finals but you can still work on it. It took your father three years to make and it took me three months to master it. So, we'll start with summoning and move onto this once you can summon the boss summon of either your contract, or the toads if you get their blessing."

Naruto nodded but eyed the swirling ball of chakra. "That's all good and stuff, but what can the Rasengan do?" He asked, curiously.

Jiraiya smirked. "The original can do this." The toad hermit spun on his heel and slammed the ball into a nearby boulder. The ball ate through the rock and left a large crater in it. "That's just the original, you can make it bigger, but it works differently, I'll have to teach you that after you master the normal Rasengan. This jutsu, if used right, can even churn the insides of an opponent from it's force."

"Sugoi!" Naruto said, amazed.

"Now, let's get back to work." Jiraiya bit his thumb and went through a few hand signs before slamming his hand on the ground. All Naruto saw was an enormous puff of smoke as the toad hermit leaped away. The smoke cleared to reveal a massive toad. It was at least three, maybe four, times taller than the threes!

"**JIRAIYA!!**" The toad growled out, angrily.

**-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-**

**Came across a lot of writer's block in this chapter. The Wolves' testing being one part. That was why I decided to forgo the story or flashback and went with an explanation.**

**The next few chapters will probably take longer than normal(if I even have a normal anymore) because of the fighting. I plan for the Chuunin exams and invasion to last two, HOPEFULLY, three chapters.**

**But, whatever! I got over 100,000 words, finally! Woot!**

**R&R or I'll feed cute little Hinata to Anko and Kyuubi for dinner.**


	14. UP FOR ADOPTION

**ADOPTION NOTICE**

I have put this story up for adoption, seeing as I'll never finish it myself, unfortunately.

If you wish to adopt, please visit my Forum - forum. fanfiction .net/forum/Bounders_Ideas_and_Challenges/87154/ - You can find all the information there, along with a Idea/Challenge topic that will list all of my fanfic ideas so others can use them.


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